Exciton Dynamics in soluble Poly(p-phenylene-vinylene): Towards an Ultrafast Excitonic Switch

Abstract

We have applied a variety of ps transient and cw optical techniques to elucidate the dynamics, absorption, and emission properties of excitons in soluble derivatives of poly(p-phenylene vinylene) neat films and dilute solutions. We found that the photogenerated singlet excitons in both films and solutions are characterized by strong stimulated emission and {ital two} photoinduced absorption bands. We demonstrate that these bands can be used to form an ultrafast optical switch in the near IR spectral range with variable switching times. {copyright} {ital 1997} {ital The American Physical Society}