Electroabsorption study of metal-to-ligand charge transfer in an organic complex of iridium (III)

Abstract

The dipole moment and polarizability changes have been determined from electroabsorption (EA) spectroscopy of solid films of fac tris(2-(phenyl)pyridinato,N,C2′)iridium (III) [Ir(ppy)3]. The maximum changes in the dipole moment |Δμ|S=(5.0±0.5) D/f (f is the local field correction factor: 1.3–1.7) accompany ground state to the lowest singlet, and |Δμ|T=(1.7±0.5) D/f ground state to the lowest triplet metal-to-ligand charge transfer (MLCT) excited states formation, while the average polarizability change Δp=(20±5) Å3/f2 follows from the fitting procedure throughout the visible absorption spectrum range. The experimental values of |Δμ| as well as energy positions of the MLCT states correlate with the literature results of time-dependent density functional theory.