Biomedical subjects

Andre J Gesquiere

Publications and source records attributed to Andre J Gesquiere.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2005

Hole-induced quenching of triplet and singlet excitons in conjugated polymers.

Quantitative information on the mechanisms and rates of hole (radical cation)-induced quenching of triplet and singlet excitons in the conjugated polymer poly[2-methoxy-5-(2'-ethylhexyloxy)-p-phenylene vinylene] has been acquired by a new technique, fluorescence-voltage time-resolved single molecule spectroscopy (FV-TR-SMS). FV-TR-SMS measures the fluorescence intensity of a single conjugated polymer molecule that is embedded in a capacitor-like device while simultaneously modulating the bias on the device and the irradiation intensity. The results demonstrate that triplet excitons are efficiently quenched by holes in conjugated polymers for hole densities >10(16) charges/cm(3), while singlet excitons are quenched with a much lower efficiency. Detailed kinetic analysis shows that the greater efficiency for quenching of triplets by holes (compared to that for singlets) is due to a >10(6) times longer exciton lifetime for triplets. In fact, the results suggest that while singlet quenching is less efficient due to a much shorter singlet lifetime, the rate constant for the quenching of singlets by holes actually exceeds that for triplets by several orders of magnitude.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2005

Single molecule modulation spectroscopy of conjugated polymers.

This paper describes a new single molecule spectroscopy approach for the investigation of triplet-triplet and singlet-triplet interactions in conjugated polymers. The technique involves the irradiation of isolated single, mulitchromophoric, conjugated polymer molecules by a repetitive sequence of variable-intensity microsecond time scale excitation pulses. The fluorescence intensity is synchronously time-averaged for thousands of cycles of the pulse sequence to yield a high signal-to-noise fluorescence transient on the microsecond time scale. The transient can be analyzed with kinetic models to obtain quantitative information about the kinetics of triplet-triplet exciton annihilation and the quenching of singlet excitons by triplet excitons in conjugated polymers.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2005

Singlet-triplet and triplet-triplet interactions in conjugated polymer single molecules.

Single molecule fluorescence correlation spectroscopy has been used to investigate the photodynamics of isolated single multichromophoric polymer chains of the conjugated polymers MEH-PPV and F8BT on the microsecond to millisecond time scale. The experimental results (and associated kinetic modeling) demonstrate that (i) triplet exciton pairs undergo efficient triplet-triplet annihilation on the <<30 micros time scale, (ii) triplet-triplet annihilation is the dominant mechanism for triplet decay at incident excitation powers > or =50 W/cm(2), and (iii) singlet excitons are quenched by triplet excitons with an efficiency on the order of (1)/(2). The high efficiency of this latter process ensures that single molecule fluorescence spectroscopy can be effectively used to indirectly monitor triplet exciton population dynamics in conjugated polymers. Finally, correlation spectroscopy of MEH-PPV molecules in a multilayer device environment reveals that triplet excitons are efficiently quenched by hole polarons.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2005

Single-molecule spectroscopy of conjugated polymers.

The molecular structure, photochemistry, and device physics of conjugated polymers have been investigated by single-molecule spectroscopy (SMS), using the unique ability of this technique to unravel complex spectra and dynamics. Surprisingly efficient and directional electronic energy funneling was observed for conjugated polymer molecules due to highly ordered conformations. Furthermore, recent studies on the SMS of conjugated polymers embedded in electronic devices demonstrate that SMS is a powerful tool for studying the photophysics and charge-transfer processes of conjugated polymers, giving new insights into the complex interactions among excited and charged species that exist in a device environment.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2005

Single molecule spectroscopy of organic dye nanoparticles.

Organic dye nanoparticles 1-13 nm in height and 10-45 nm in width were prepared by the reprecipitation method. With single-molecule/nanoparticle spectroscopy, two distinct types of nanoparticles were found: particles with blue emission and particles with red emission. The difference in spectral characteristics is attributed to the presence of two morphological types of particles in the samples. The presence of two types of nanoparticles in the samples was further corroborated by our ability to separate blue nanoparticles from red nanoparticles by centrifugation.

Fluorescent Dyes↗

PubMed2004

Charge injection and photooxidation of single conjugated polymer molecules.

The complex, coupled mechanisms of charge transfer and oxidative damage in organic electronic devices (such as organic light-emitting diodes (OLED), solar cells, etc.) have been elucidated by a new technique that combines single-molecule spectroscopy with charge injection from a metal electrode. The experiments employed a sandwich device architecture (Au/TPD/MEH-PPV:PMMA/SiO2/ITO), essentially a modified OLED with a charge-blocking layer (SiO2) to suppress charge injection at the ITO electrode. The fluorescence (photoluminescence) of isolated MEH-PPV conjugated polymer molecules imbedded in the device was observed to exhibit diverse time- and electrical bias-dependent effects. These include: (i) fluorescence quenching due to interactions between MEH-PPV and holes in the TPD hole-transport layer; (ii) fluorescence quenching, or "photobleaching", due to chemical defects at MEH-PPV generated by photooxidation; and (iii) a novel process, reductive "repair" of the oxidative chemical defects by externally injected carriers. These results demonstrate a very different mechanism for photobleaching of organic conjugated materials than is generally assumed to operate and, furthermore, suggest an intimate relationship among photobleaching, charge transport, and persistent photoconductivity in organic materials.

Journal Article↗