F. Kulzer et al., Nonphotochemical hole burning investigated at the single-molecule level: Stark effect measurements on the original and photoproduct state, J PHYS CH A, 103(14), 1999, pp. 2408-2411
By applying an external electric field, we have studied the de Stark shifts
at the two states of a low-temperature single-molecule optical switch. We
observe a reversible change from a mainly quadratic field dependence to a l
inear field dependence. The data analysis provides the S-1 -S-0 dipole mome
nt and polarizability differences of both the original and photoproduct sta
te. On the basis of these data, a detailed microscopic scenario for the und
erlying nonphotochemical hole burning mechanism is discussed.