Room-temperature fluctuations in the fluorescence of a single polymer molecule

Abstract

A theoretical model of light absorption and emission by a polymer molecule has been developed using recent experimental data on the room-temperature fluctuations in the fluorescence intensity of single molecules of a PPV-PPyV copolymer containing several tens of chromophores. An analysis of the experimental data based on the proposed model shows evidence of a change in the conformation of a polymer molecule in the triplet state. By applying the theory to the PPV-PPyV copolymer, it is possible to determine the rate constants of the conformation variation, the rates of the transition from the singlet to the triplet state, and the lifetime of the triplet state of the molecule. The theory also predicts some new effects which can be verified by experiment.