Spectroscopic investigations of dithienyl polyenes

Thomas M. Cooper; Laura A. Sowards; Lalgudi V. Natarajan; Sean M. Kirkpatrick; Suresh Chandra; Daniel G. McLean; Charles W. Spangler

doi:10.1117/12.363877

Translator Disclaimer

4 October 1999 Spectroscopic investigations of dithienyl polyenes

Thomas M. Cooper, Laura A. Sowards, Lalgudi V. Natarajan, Sean M. Kirkpatrick, Suresh Chandra, Daniel G. McLean, Charles W. Spangler

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 3798, Power-Limiting Materials and Devices; (1999) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.363877
Event: SPIE's International Symposium on Optical Science, Engineering, and Instrumentation, 1999, Denver, CO, United States

Abstract

To understand the photophysics of nonlinear absorbers, we have investigated the photophysics of a series of di(2- thienyl-3,3',4,4'-butyl)polyenes. Spectroscopic measurements, including UV/Vis, fluorescence, fluorescence lifetimes, fluorescence quantum yields, triplet state lifetime, solvent effects and two-photon absorption coefficient were obtained as a function of the number of double bonds (n equals 1 - 5). Trends in the data reflected the ordering, energy gap between and mixing of ¹B_u* and ¹A_g* excited state configurations. We investigated the solvatochromism of a series of (alpha) ,(omega) -di(2- dithienyl 3,3',4,4'-butyl) polyenes. Absorption (n equals 1 - 5 double bonds) were collected in a series of aprotic solvents. The absorption energy dispersion effect sensitivity increased smoothly with n, reaching asymptotic behavior as n approached 5. The emission energy had less solvent sensitivity, giving evidence for a polar ¹B_u* absorbing state and a nonpolar ¹A_g* emitting state. We observed sensitivity of the absorbing and emitting states to solute-solvent dipole-dipole interactions, suggesting the dithienyl polyenes had a polar syn ground state conformation.

Citation Download Citation

Thomas M. Cooper, Laura A. Sowards, Lalgudi V. Natarajan, Sean M. Kirkpatrick, Suresh Chandra, Daniel G. McLean, and Charles W. Spangler "Spectroscopic investigations of dithienyl polyenes", Proc. SPIE 3798, Power-Limiting Materials and Devices, (4 October 1999); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.363877

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE