Theory of Transient Excited State Absorptions in Pentacene and Derivatives: Triplet-Triplet Biexciton versus Free Triplets

Recent experiments in several singlet-fission materials have found that the triplet triplet biexciton either is the primary product of photoexcitation or has a much longer lifetime than believed until now. It thus becomes essential to determine the difference in the spectroscopic signatures of the bound triplet triplet and free triplets to distinguish between them optically. We report calculations of excited state absorptions (ESAs) from the singlet and triplet excitons and from the triplet triplet biexciton for a pentacene crystal with the herringbone structure and for nanocrystals of bis(triisopropylsilylethynyl) (TIPS)-pentacene. The triplet triplet biexciton absorbs in both the visible and the near-infrared (NIR), while the monomer free triplet absorbs only in the visible. The intensity of the NIR absorption depends on the extent of intermolecular coupling, in agreement with observations in TIPS-pentacene nano crystals. We predict additional weak ESA from the triplet triplet but not from the triplet, at still lower energy.