ANOMALOUS LIFETIME SHORTENING OF S1 TRANS-STILBENE IN CARBON-TETRACHLORIDE AS REVEALED BY PICOSECOND TIME-RESOLVED RAMAN, ABSORPTION, AND FLUORESCENCE SPECTROSCOPIES

The lifetime of the first excited singlet state of trans-stilbene (S1 tSB) in carbon tetrachloride at room temperature is determined to be 3 .1+/-0.2 ps with the use of time-resolved Raman, absorption, and fluor escence spectroscopies. The lifetime of 3.1 ps is shorter than the sho rtest value ever reported by an order of magnitude. The steady state p hotoirradiation of tSB in carbon tetrachloride shows that the decompos ition of the tSB molecule is the primary cause of the lifetime shorten ing.