Incoherent exciton trapping in self-similar aperiodic lattices

Abstract

Incoherent exciton dynamics in one-dimensional perfect lattices with traps at sites arranged according to aperiodic deterministic sequences is studied. We focus our attention on Thue-Morse and Fibonacci systems as canonical examples of self-similar aperiodic systems. Solving numerically the corresponding master equation we evaluate the survival probability and the mean-square displacement of an exciton initially created at a single site. Results are compared to systems of the same size with the same concentration of traps randomly as well as periodically distributed over the whole lattice. Excitons progressively extend over the lattice on increasing time and, in this sense, they act as a probe of the particular arrangements of traps in each system considered. The analysis of the characteristic features of their time decay indicates that exciton dynamics in self-similar aperiodic arrangements of traps is quite close to that observed in periodic ones, but differs significantly from that corresponding to random lattices. We also report on characteristic features of exciton motion suggesting that Fibonacci and Thue-Morse orderings might be clearly observed by appropriate experimental measurements. In the conclusions we comment on the implications of our work on the way towards a unified theory of the ordering of matter.