  The quantum-dynamical mechanism of photoinduced subpicosecond exciton
dissociation and the concomitant formation of a charge-separated state at a
TFB:F8BT polymer heterojunction is elucidated. The analysis is based upon a
two-state vibronic coupling Hamiltonian including an explicit 24-mode
representation of a phonon bath comprising high-frequency (C$=$C stretch) and
low-frequency (torsional) modes. The initial relaxation behavior is
characterized by coherent oscillations, along with the decay through an
extended nonadiabatic coupling region. This region is located in the vicinity
of a conical intersection hypersurface. A central ingredient of the analysis is
a novel effective mode representation, which highlights the role of the
low-frequency modes in the nonadiabatic dynamics. Quantum dynamical simulations
were carried out using the multiconfiguration time-dependent Hartree (MCTDH)
method.
