Spectroscopy and Photophysics of Self-Organized Zinc Porphyrin Nanolayers. 3. Fluorescence Detected Magnetic Resonance of Triplet States

Fluorescence detected magnetic resonance (FDMR) has been applied to approximately 25-nm-thick porphyrin films, containing ordered domains of zinc tetra-(p-octylphenyl)-porphyrin (ZnTOPP) spin-coated onto quartz slides. Illuminating the films at 1.4 K with 457.9-nm light from a continuous wave Ar(+) laser produces at least two different, Jahn-Teller-distorted, ZnTOPP triplet species, labeled i and ii. Microwave-induced magnetic resonance of i and ii in the absence or presence of an externally applied magnetic field affects the fluorescence intensity of ZnTOPP, thus allowing FDMR. For triplet species i, formed in films spin-coated from toluene solution, the zero-field splitting (ZFS) parameters were determined as |D| = (316.9 +/- 0.1) x 10(-4) cm(-1) and |E| = (32.0 +/- 0.5) x 10(-4) cm(-1). By exposure of the spin-coated films to chloroform vapor at room temperature, triplet i is converted into species ii, with |D| = (295 +/- 3) x 10(-4) cm(-1) and |E| = (121 +/- 3) x 10(-4) cm(-1). For the excited triplet state of ZnTOPP in a toluene glass, ZFS parameters with values of |D| = (295 +/- 1) x 10(-4) cm(-1) and |E| = (91 +/- 1) x 10(-4) cm(-1) are found. From a combined study of the FDMR- and microwave-induced fluorescence spectra, i and ii are identified as unligated and ligated ZnTOPP triplet species, respectively. From the asymmetrically shaped zero-field FDMR signals of i, we conclude that the local crystal field perturbations of the stacked molecules are anisotropic. The FDMR results of the ZnTOPP films are compared with those for a film of zinc tetraphenylporphyrin (ZnTPP), which lacks the octyl substituents, and therefore is nonordered. Upon illumination, the ZnTPP films contain only a single, ligated, triplet species with ZFS parameters very similar to those of ligated ZnTOPP. At approximately 5 K, the lifetime of triplet i is considerably shortened compared to that of ZnTOPP in a glass at the same temperature.

Fluorescence investigations of pure and mixed evaporated dye layers

Fluorescence spectroscopy is used to investigate energy transfer processes in evaporated layers consisting of several different dyes. In this study films ofN,N'-dimethylperylene-3,4∶9,10-bis-dicarboximide (methylperylene pigment, MPP), coevaporated with copper phthalocyanine (CuPc) at varying ratios, and double layers of MPP and CuPc with different thicknesses are investigated. It is shown that energy transfer from MPP to CuPc occurs in both mixed and double layers. The energy transfer leads to a strong quenching of the MPP fluorescence and sensitized CuPc emission in the NIR region. The concentration dependence of the fluorescence quenching in mixed layers can be described by a Stern-Volmer plot. A simple model based on exciton diffusion between MPP molecules toward active quenching centers is used to determine the diffusion length.