Disentangling the Orientations of Spectrally Overlapping Transition Dipoles in Dense Dye Layers

• Published in: Nano letters 2022-09, Vol.22 (18), p.7499-7505
• Main Authors: Schnupfhagn, Christoph, Schumacher, Thorsten, Markus, Paul, Papastavrou, Georg, Aftenieva, Olha, König, Tobias A. F., Dudko, Volodymyr, Matejdes, Marian, Breu, Josef, Lippitz, Markus
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1530-6984; 1530-6992
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.2c02438

The transition dipole orientations of dye assemblies in heterostructures have a crucial impact on the efficiency of novel optoelectronic devices such as organic thin-film transistors and light-emitting diodes. These devices are frequently based on heterojunctions and tandem structures featuring multiple optical transitions. Precise knowledge of preferred orientations, spatial order, and spatial variations is highly relevant. We present a fast and universal large-area screening method to determine the transition dipole orientations in dye assemblies with diffraction-limited spatial resolution. Moreover, our hyperspectral imaging approach disentangles the orientations of different chromophores. As a demonstration, we apply our technique to dye monolayers with two optical transitions sandwiched between two ultrathin silicate nanosheets. A comprehensive model for dipole orientation distributions in monolayers reveals a long-range orientational order and a strong correlation between the two transitions.