Photo-bleaching of single terrylene molecules in Shpol’skii matrices at elevated temperatures

Abstract

Single terrylene molecules were detected in frozen matrices of n-hexadecane and n-dodecane in the broad temperature range, above 50 K. The characteristic feature was fast photo-bleaching of terrylene molecules, accelerated with the temperature increase. The process was related to an increase of the cavity occupied by the dopant molecules at higher temperatures. The cavity enlargement was estimated from the shift of fluorescence and fluorescence excitation spectra of an ensemble of terrylene molecules in the investigated matrices.