Single molecule lines and spectral hole burning of terrylene in different matrices

Abstract

We observe fluorescence excitation lines of single terrylene molecules in three new polymer matrices (polyvinylbutyral, polymethylmethacrylate, and polystyrene) and in two crystals, n‐hexadecane (polycrystalline Shpol’skii matrix) and anthracene single crystal. We also burn persistent spectral holes in bulk samples of these solutions for comparison to single molecule lines. In all matrices where hole burning is efficient enough, we find good agreement between the average width determined from the distribution of single molecules’ linewidths and the homogeneous width deduced from spectral holes, which demonstrates the consistency and complementarity of the two techniques.