Vibrational Energy Dependence of the Triplet Lifetime in Isolated, Photoexcited C60

Time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy of low-energy excitations of 4×4 C60/Cu(111)

Time-resolved two-photon photoemission is applied to investigate electron dynamics in multiple monolayers (MLs) of ordered fullerite on a copper substrate. The experimental data are analyzed assuming coupled excited state dynamics. Rate equations fitted to these dynamics yield lifetimes of about 80 ps for the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO), about 1.2 ns for the singlet exciton and 22 μs for the triplet exciton at a surface temperature of 140 K. For trapped triplet excitons lifetimes up to 200 μs are observed. An increased excitation fluence reduces the lifetime of the excitons due to annihilation. An increased sample temperature slightly reduces the lifetime of the triplet exciton. There is no evident dependence of the exciton lifetimes on the pump photon energy in the range of hν = 2.9 to 3.3 eV. A dependence on the layer thickness (10-20 ML) is not observed as long as more than 9 ML are prepared.