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Updated: Jul 15, 2026

Direct Imaging of Laser-driven Ultrafast Molecular Rotation
Published on: February 4, 2017
Matrix-induced intensity fluctuations in the fluorescence from single oligo(phenylenevinylene) molecules
Melissa A Summers1, Guillermo C Bazan, Steven K Buratto
1Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106-9510, USA.
Abstract:
Single molecule spectroscopy on oligo(phenylenevinylene) (OPV) chromophores shows that the fluorescence intermittency strongly correlates to the rigidity of the environment surrounding the molecules. For OPV single molecules, environmental rigidity inhibits twisting about the vinyl linkages, the molecular motion associated with the observed "off" (nonabsorbing) state. By increasing the rigidity of a single molecule's environment, we can tune its room temperature fluorescence from rapid, sub-millisecond "blinking" fluctuations (fluid polymer environment) to completely "on" with no blinking observed (molecules adsorbed to a rigid bare glass substrate). The difference in fluorescence intermittency from environment to environment is immediately apparent and explicit in single molecule intensity trajectories under cw (continuous wave) excitation, demonstrating the sensitivity of these chromophores to their surroundings and emphasizing the importance of morphological control in real-world applications involving phenylenevinylene-based materials.
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