Exciton migration by ultrafast Förster transfer in highly doped matrixes

Exciton annihilation and diffusion length in disordered multichromophoric nanoparticles

Efficient exciton transport is the essential property of natural and synthetic light-harvesting (LH) devices. Here we investigate exciton transport properties in LH organic polymer nanoparticles (ONPs) of 40 nm diameter. The ONPs are loaded with a rhodamine B dye derivative and bulky counterion, enabling dye loadings as high as 0.3 M, while preserving fluorescence quantum yields larger than 30%. We use time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy to monitor exciton-exciton annihilation (EEA) kinetics within the ONPs dispersed in water. We demonstrate that unlike the common practice for photoluminescence investigations of EEA, the non-uniform intensity profile of the excitation light pulse must be taken into account to analyse reliably intensity-dependent population dynamics. Alternatively, a simple confocal detection scheme is demonstrated, which enables (i) retrieving the correct value for the bimolecular EEA rate which would otherwise be underestimated by a typical factor of three, and (ii) revealing minor EEA by-products otherwise unnoticed. Considering the ONPs as homogeneous rigid solutions of weakly interacting dyes, we postulate an incoherent exciton hoping mechanism to infer a diffusion constant exceeding 0.003 cm2 s-1 and a diffusion length as large as 70 nm. This work demonstrates the success of the present ONP design strategy at engineering efficient exciton transport in disordered multichromophoric systems.

Comparison of Frenkel and Excimer Exciton Diffusion in Perylene Bisimide Nanoparticles

Exciton migration is an important process for light harvesting with organic systems and often the bottleneck. Especially the formation of trap states hinders the mobility considerably. Although excimer excitons are often referred to as traps, their mobility has been demonstrated while their nature is still unclear. Here, we compare the mobility of singlet and excimer excitons in nanoparticles consisting of the same type of perylene bisimide molecules. By changing the preparation conditions, nanoparticles with different intermolecular coupling strengths are prepared. Femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy reveals the formation of excimer excitons from Frenkel excitons. The mobility of both exciton types is determined by evaluating exciton-exciton annihilation processes. In the lower coupling regime, singlet mobility is observed, whereas for stronger coupling the dynamics is dominated by a 10-fold increased excimer mobility. The excimer mobility can thus even be higher than the singlet mobility and is affected by the intermolecular electronic coupling.

Room temperature exciton-polariton Bose-Einstein condensation in organic single-crystal microribbon cavities

Exciton–polariton Bose–Einstein condensation (EP BEC) is of crucial importance for the development of coherent light sources and optical logic elements, as it creates a new state of matter with coherent nature and nonlinear behaviors. The demand for room temperature EP BEC has driven the development of organic polaritons because of the large binding energies of Frenkel excitons in organic materials. However, the reliance on external high-finesse microcavities for organic EP BEC results in poor compactness and integrability of devices, which restricts their practical applications in on-chip integration. Here, we demonstrate room temperature EP BEC in organic single-crystal microribbon natural cavities. The regularly shaped microribbons serve as waveguide Fabry–Pérot microcavities, in which efficient strong coupling between Frenkel excitons and photons leads to the generation of EPs at room temperature. The large exciton–photon coupling strength due to high exciton densities facilitates the achievement of EP BEC. Taking advantages of interactions in EP condensates and dimension confinement effects, we demonstrate the realization of controllable output of coherent light from the microribbons. We hope that the results will provide a useful enlightenment for using organic single crystals to construct miniaturized polaritonic devices.

The use of room temperature exciton–polariton Bose–Einstein condensation is limited by the need for external high-finesse microcavities. The authors generate room temperature EPs with single-crystal microribbons as waveguide Fabry–Pérot microcavities, and demonstrate controllable output of coherent light.

Ultrafast spectral hole burning reveals the distinct chromophores in eumelanin and their common photoresponse

Eumelanin, the brown-black pigment found in organisms from bacteria to humans, dissipates solar energy and prevents photochemical damage. While the structure of eumelanin is unclear, it is thought to consist of an extremely heterogeneous collection of chromophores that absorb from the UV to the infrared, additively producing its remarkably broad absorption spectrum. However, the chromophores responsible for absorption by eumelanin and their excited state decay pathways remain highly uncertain. Using femtosecond broadband transient absorption spectroscopy, we address the excited state behavior of chromophore subsets that make up a synthetic eumelanin, DOPA melanin, and probe the heterogeneity of its chromophores. Tuning the excitation light over more than an octave from the UV to the visible and probing with the broadest spectral window used to study any form of melanin to date enable the detection of spectral holes with a linewidth of 0.6 eV that track the excitation wavelength. Transient spectral hole burning is a manifestation of extreme chemical heterogeneity, yet exciting these diverse chromophores unexpectedly produces a common photoinduced absorption spectrum and similar kinetics. This common photoresponse is assigned to the ultrafast formation of immobile charge transfer excitons that decay locally and that are formed among graphene-like chromophores in less than 200 fs. Raman spectroscopy reveals that chromophore heterogeneity in DOPA melanin arises from different sized domains of sp²-hybridized carbon and nitrogen atoms. Furthermore, we identify for the first time striking parallels between the excited state dynamics of eumelanin and disordered carbon nanomaterials, suggesting that they share common structural attributes.

Seeing the colors in black: ultrafast transient hole burning spectroscopy reveals the absorption properties of discrete chromophores and their interactions in the skin pigment eumelanin.

Tailoring Fluorescence Brightness and Switching of Nanoparticles through Dye Organization in the Polymer Matrix

Fluorescent nanoparticles (NPs) help to increase spatial and temporal resolution in bioimaging. Advanced microscopy techniques require very bright NPs that exhibit either stable emission for single-particle tracking or complete on/off switching (blinking) for super-resolution imaging. Here, ultrabright dye-loaded polymer NPs with controlled switching properties are developed. To this aim, the salt of a dye (rhodamine B octadecyl ester) with a hydrophobic counterion (fluorinated tetraphenylborate) is encapsulated at very high concentrations up to 30 wt % in NPs made of poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA), poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), and polycaprolactone (PCL) through nanoprecipitation. The obtained 35 nm NPs are nearly 100 times brighter than quantum dots. The nature of the polymer is found to define the collective behavior of the encapsulated dyes so that NPs containing thousands of dyes exhibit either whole particle blinking, for PLGA, or stable emission, for PMMA and PCL. Fluorescence anisotropy measurements together with small-angle X-ray scattering experiments suggest that in less hydrophobic PLGA, dyes tend to cluster, whereas in more hydrophobic PMMA and PCL, dyes are dispersed within the matrix, thus altering the switching behavior of NPs. Experiments using a perylene diimide derivative show a similar effect of the polymer nature. The resulting fluorescent NPs are suitable for a wide range of imaging applications from tracking to super-resolution imaging. The findings on the organization of the load innside NPs will have impact on the development of materials for applications ranging from photovoltaics to drug delivery.

Emissive Molecular Aggregates and Energy Migration in Luminescent Solar Concentrators

Luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs) are light harvesting devices that are ideally suited to light collection in the urban environment where direct sunlight is often not available. LSCs consist of highly luminescent compounds embedded or coated on a transparent substrate that absorb diffuse or direct solar radiation over a large area. The resulting luminescence is trapped in the waveguide by total internal reflection to the thin edges of the substrate where the concentrated light can be used to improve the performance of photovoltaic devices. The concept of LSCs has been around for several decades, and yet the efficiencies of current devices are still below expectations for commercial viability. There are two primary challenges when designing new chromophores for LSC applications. Reabsorption of dye emission by chromophores within the waveguide is a significant loss mechanism attenuating the light output of LSCs. Concentration quenching, particularly in organic dye systems, restricts the quantity of chromophores that can be incorporated in the waveguide thus limiting the light absorbed by the LSC. Frequently, a compromise between increased light harvesting of the incident light and decreasing emission quantum yield is required for most organic chromophore-based systems due to concentration quenching. The low Stokes shift of common organic dyes used in current LSCs also imposes another optimization problem. Increasing light absorption of LSCs based on organic dyes to achieve efficient light harvesting also enhances reabsorption. Ideally, a design strategy to simultaneously optimize light harvesting, concentration quenching, and reabsorption of LSC chromophores is clearly needed to address the significant losses in LSCs. Over the past few years, research in our group has targeted novel dye structures that address these primary challenges. There is a common perception that dye aggregates are to be avoided in LSCs. It became apparent in our studies that aggregates of chromophores exhibiting aggregation-induced emission (AIE) behavior are attractive candidates for LSC applications. Strategic application of AIE chromophores has led to the development of the first organic-based transparent solar concentrator that harvests UV light as well as the demonstration of reabsorption reduction by taking advantage of energy migration processes between chromophores. Further developments led us to the application of perylene diimides using an energy migration/energy transfer approach. To prevent concentration quenching, a molecularly insulated perylene diimide with bulky substituents attached to the imide positions was designed and synthesized. By combining the insulated perylene diimide with a commercial perylene dye as an energy donor-acceptor emitter pair, detrimental luminescence reabsorption was reduced while achieving a high chromophore concentration for efficient light absorption. This Account reviews and reinspects some of our recent work and the improvements in the field of LSCs.

The dimer-approach to characterize opto-electronic properties of and exciton trapping and diffusion in organic semiconductor aggregates and crystals

We present the recently developed dimer approach which seems to include all main effects determining the photo-physics of organic semiconductor aggregates.

Interface of physics and biology: engineering virus-based nanoparticles for biophotonics

Virus-based nanoparticles (VNPs) have been used for a wide range of applications, spanning basic materials science and translational medicine. Their propensity to self-assemble into precise structures that offer a three-dimensional scaffold for functionalization has led to their use as optical contrast agents and related biophotonics applications. A number of fluorescently labeled platforms have been developed and their utility in optical imaging demonstrated, yet their optical properties have not been investigated in detail. In this study, two VNPs of varying architectures were compared side-by-side to determine the impact of dye density, dye localization, conjugation chemistry, and microenvironment on the optical properties of the probes. Dyes were attached to icosahedral cowpea mosaic virus (CPMV) and rod-shaped tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) through a range of chemistries to target particular side chains displayed at specific locations around the virus. The fluorescence intensity and lifetime of the particles were determined, first using photochemical experiments on the benchtop, and second in imaging experiments using tissue culture experiments. The virus-based optical probes were found to be extraordinarily robust under ultrashort, pulsed laser light conditions with a significant amount of excitation energy, maintaining structural and chemical stability. The most effective fluorescence output was achieved through dye placement at optimized densities coupled to the exterior surface avoiding conjugated ring systems. Lifetime measurements indicate that fluorescence output depends not only on spacing the fluorophores, but also on dimer stacking and configurational changes leading to radiationless relaxation—and these processes are related to the conjugation chemistry and nanoparticle shape. For biological applications, the particles were also examined in tissue culture, from which it was found that the optical properties differed from those found on the benchtop due to effects from cellular processes and uptake kinetics. Data indicate that fluorescent cargos are released in the endolysosomal compartment of the cell targeted by the virus-based optical probes. These studies provide insight into the optical properties and fates of fluorescent proteinaceous imaging probes. The cellular release of cargo has implications not only for virus-based optical probes, but also for drug delivery and release systems.

The structure and dynamics of molecular excitons

The photophysical behavior of organic semiconductors is governed by their excitonic states. In this review, I classify the three different exciton types (Frenkel singlet, Frenkel triplet, and charge transfer) typically encountered in organic semiconductors. Experimental challenges that arise in the study of solid-state organic systems are discussed. The steady-state spectroscopy of intermolecular delocalized Frenkel excitons is described, using crystalline tetracene as an example. I consider the problem of a localized exciton diffusing in a disordered matrix in detail, and experimental results on conjugated polymers and model systems suggest that energetic disorder leads to subdiffusive motion. Multiexciton processes such as singlet fission and triplet fusion are described, emphasizing the role of spin state coherence and magnetic fields in studying singlet ↔ triplet pair interconversion. Singlet fission provides an example of how all three types of excitons (triplet, singlet, and charge transfer) may interact to produce useful phenomena for applications such as solar energy conversion.

Transient anisotropy in degenerate systems: A semi-classical approach

A semi-classical model for transient anisotropy in degenerate excited states is developed on the basis of a more general ansatz presented recently (O. Schalk and A.-N. Unterreiner, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 12, 655 (2010)). This is the first model that can treat both rotational dephasing and the dynamics in degenerate systems, which is a prerequisite for a comprehensive theory to describe gas phase anisotropy experiments in small, highly symmetric systems. In the present contribution, it is shown that this model covers most of the features of the full quantum dynamical treatment and helps to give insights into the physical processes that are underlying these dynamics.

Long distance energy transfer in a polymer matrix doped with a perylene dye

Exciton migration over long distances is a key issue for various applications in organic electronics. We investigate a disordered material system which has the potential for long exciton diffusion lengths in combination with a high versatility. The perylene bisimide dye Perylene Red is incorporated in a polymer matrix with a high concentration. The dye molecules represent active sites with a narrow energy distribution for the electronically excited states. Excitons can be efficiently exchanged between them by Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET). The narrow energy distribution reduces drastically the trapping probability of the excitons compared to polymers and allows for long transfer distances. To characterize the mobility of the excitons and their diffusion length the dye Oxazine 1 is added as an acceptor in low concentration and the transfer probability to the acceptor is determined by measuring the reduction of Perylene Red fluorescence. The quenched quantum yield is measured for dye concentrations varying from 0.05 M to 0.15 M for Perylene Red and from 0.3 mM to 3 mM for Oxazine 1. The experimental results are compared to a model which assumes that excitons can diffuse through the material by FRET between Perylene Red sites and are trapped at an acceptor with a final hetero FRET step. We find a quite good match between theory and experiment though the observed diffusion constant is about two times smaller than the calculated one. The exciton diffusion length extracted from the data is 30 nm for a Perylene Red concentration of 0.1 M and demonstrates that long distance energy transfer is possible in this disordered material system.

Electronic energy migration on different time scales: concentration dependence of the time-resolved anisotropy and fluorescence quenching of Lumogen Red in poly(methyl methacrylate)

Electronic energy transfer plays an important role in many types of organic electronic devices. Forster-type theories of exciton diffusion provide a way to calculate diffusion constants and lengths, but their applicability to amorphous polymer systems must be evaluated. In this paper, the perylenediimide dye Lumogen Red in a poly(methyl methacrylate) host matrix is used to test theories of exciton motion over Lumogen Red concentrations (C(LR)'s) ranging from 1 x 10(-4) to 5 x 10(-2) M. Two experimental quantities are measured. First, time-resolved anisotropy decays in films containing only Lumogen Red provide an estimate of the initial energy transfer rate from the photoexcited molecule. Second, the Lumogen Red lifetime decays in mixed systems where the dyes Malachite Green and Rhodamine 700 act as energy acceptors are measured to estimate the diffusive quenching of the exciton. From the anisotropy measurements, it is found that theory accurately predicts both the C(LR)(-2) concentration dependence of the polarization decay time tau(pol), as well as its magnitude to within 30%. The theory also predicts that the diffusive quenching rate is proportional to C(LR)(alpha), where alpha ranges between 1.00 and 1.33. Experimentally, it is found that alpha = 1.1 +/- 0.2 when Malachite Green is used as an acceptor, and alpha = 1.2 +/- 0.2 when Rhodamine 700 is the acceptor. On the basis of the theory that correctly describes the anisotropy data, the exciton diffusion constant is projected to be 4-9 nm(2)/ns. By use of several different analysis methods for the quenching data, the experimental diffusion constant is found to be in the range of 0.32-1.20 nm(2)/ns. Thus the theory successfully describes the early time anisotropy data but fails to quantitatively describe the quenching experiments which are sensitive to motion on longer time scales. The data are consistent with the idea that orientational and energetic disorder leads to a time-dependent exciton migration rate, suggesting that simple diffusion models cannot accurately describe exciton motion within this system.

Ultrafast exciton relaxation in microcrystalline pentacene films

The exciton dynamics in microcrystalline pentacene films is investigated by transient absorption measurements with 30 fs time resolution. It is found that the emission from photoexcited Frenkel excitons decays within 70 fs due to the ultrafast formation of an excitonic species with a strongly reduced transition dipole to the ground state and an absorption dipole in the plane of the film. We propose that an excimer exciton is formed and stabilized by changes of the local crystal structure. The subsequent dynamics is dominated by diffusion controlled annihilation and trapping.

The photophysical properties of chromophores at high (100 mM and above) concentrations in polymers and as neat solids

The absorption, fluorescence, and photostability of five conjugated chromophores: perylene, 2,5,8,11-tetra-t-butyl perylene (TTBP), perylene orange (PO), perylene red (PR), and a zwitterionic Meisenheimer complex (MHC), are studied as a function of concentration in poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA). At 1 mM concentrations, all five molecules exhibit properties consistent with unaggregated chromophores. At higher concentrations, perylene and PO both exhibit excimer formation, while TTBP, PR, and the MHC retain their monomeric fluorescent lineshapes. In these three molecules, however, the fluorescence decay times decrease by 10% (TTBP) to 50% (MHC) at concentrations of 100 mM in PMMA. The fluorescence properties of these highly concentrated samples are sensitive to the sample preparation conditions. In the neat solid where the effective concentration is on the order of 1 M, all three molecules exhibit very fast fluorescence decays, on the order of 150 ps or less, despite the fact that they retain their basic monomeric fluorescence lineshape. In addition to the enhanced nonradiative decay at high concentrations, these three molecules also undergo a concentration-dependent photobleaching. The combined effects of intermolecular nonradiative decay channels and photobleaching appear to be a general obstacle to achieving highly concentrated dye-doped solids.