Journal of Chemical Physics, Vol.116, No.23, 10503-10507, 2002
Spectroscopic investigation of the different long-lived photoexcitations in a polythiophene
Using time-resolved photoinduced transient absorption and gated emission techniques long-lived excitations of the solid-state conjugated polymer poly(3-methyl-4-octyl-thiophene) (PMOT) have been detected and analyzed at different temperatures. At 15 K phosphorescence and delayed fluorescence resulting from triplet and geminate pair decay, respectively, are observed. A redshifted emission (with respect to the prompt fluorescence) detected at ambient temperatures is assigned to excimer fluorescence. We also observed excitations with extremely long lifetimes of 300 ms at 289 K that we allocate to triplet excimer formation.