QUANTUM JUMPS OF SINGLE MOLECULES - A METHOD TO MEASURE TRIPLET KINETICS

Quantum jumps between the excited singlet and tripler states of single terrylene molecules in p-terphenyl are directly observable as interru ptions of the fluorescence signal. By analyzing the distributions of i nterval lengths of bright and dark periods, the absolute values of int ersystem crossing parameters for population and depopulation of the tr iplet state can be determined. It is concluded that quantum optical ex periments as described here are a valuable tool to study the photophys ical dynamics of single absorbers in solid matrices.