Three perylenetetracarboxylic diimide (PDI) dimers linked with a conjugated chain of different lengths have been designed and prepared. The UV-Vis absorption and fluorescence spectra of these three dimers revealed different photophysical properties owing to the different length of the linkage. The intermolecular pi-pi interactions were found to be enhanced significantly with the increase in the length of the linkage and therefore induced different aggregation behaviors of these molecules. The structure of the molecular aggregates was investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), and the morphology of the aggregates was examined by atomic force microscopy (AFM). One-dimensional fibers were observed for the aggregates of compounds 2 and 3, and thin solid films were observed for the aggregates of compound 1. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.