Observation of very narrow linewidths in the fluorescence excitation spectra of single conjugated polymer chains at 1.2 K

Fluorescence emission and excitation spectra of single poly[2-methoxy-5-(2'-ethyl-hexyloxy)-1,4-phenylene vinylene] polymer molecules embedded in poly(methylmethacrylate) have been recorded at 1.2 K. The ubiquitous spectral diffusion causes large variations in the spectral shape and apparent linewidth in the emission spectra. Nevertheless, we find very narrow (similar to 0.1 cm(-1)) purely electronic zero-phonon lines in the excitation spectra, which are 2 orders of magnitude smaller than previous estimates of the homogeneous linewidth. These results complement the molecular description of the low energy transitions in conjugated polymers.