Photoluminescence quenching at a polythiophene/C60 heterojunction

Quenching of photoluminescence in a substituted polythiophene in the presence of a deposited C-60 layer is studied by steady-state and time-resolved photoluminescence (PL). The steady-state PL is evaluated by con -sidering the interference of the absorbed and emitted electro-optical field in the thin film coupled to exciton diffusion in the conjugated polymer. PL quenching occurs for excitons generated within 5 nm from the heterojunction. A blueshift of the polymer emission spectrum is observed when C-60 is deposited on top of a polymer thin film. The blueshift is shown to be caused by PL quenching before the excitation is transferred to the lowest-energy sites.