Redistribution of emitting state population in conjugated polymers probed by single-molecule fluorescence polarization spectroscopy

Fluctuations in the fluorescence polarization degree and direction are reported for the first time for single conjugated polymer molecules embedded in a polystyrene matrix at room temperature. The polymer molecule, a polythiophene derivative, clearly emits as a multi-chromophore ensemble showing that the energy does not funnel to any specific low-energy trap. The fluorescence instead originates from thermally populated exciton states with different relative orientations of the transition dipole moments. The fluctuations in the fluorescence polarization are explained in terms of changes in the relative contributions of the different exciton states to the signal due to conformational fluctuations of the molecule or selective exciton quenching by triplet states.