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Updated: Jan 26, 2026

Reactive Vapor Deposition of Conjugated Polymer Films on Arbitrary Substrates
Published on: January 17, 2018
Accidental Contamination of Substrates and Polymer Films by Organic Quantum Emitters
Andre Neumann1, Jessica Lindlau1, Stefan Thoms2
1Fakultät für Physik, Munich Quantum Center, and Center for NanoScience (CeNS) , Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München , Geschwister-Scholl-Platz 1 , 80539 München , Germany.
Abstract:
We report the observation of ubiquitous contamination of dielectric substrates and poly(methyl methacrylate) matrices by organic molecules with optical transitions in the visible spectral range. Contamination sites of individual solvent-related fluorophores in thin films of poly(methyl methacrylate) constitute fluorescence hotspots with quantum emission statistics and quantum yields approaching 30% at cryogenic temperatures. Our findings not only resolve prevalent puzzles in the assignment of spectral features to various nanoemitters on bare dielectric substrates or in polymer matrices but also identify the means for the simple and cost-efficient realization of single-photon sources in the visible spectral range.
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