Some Luminescence Properties of the Laser Dye Stilbene 3

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1 Some Luminescence Properties of the Laser Dye Stilbene 3 R. K. Bauer, A. Baiter, A. Kowalczyk Institute of Physics, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Grudzi^dzka 5, Torun, Poland Ch. Jung Sektion Chemie, Humboldt Universität, 08 Berlin, Bunsenstr., GDR Z. Naturforsch. 35 a, (980); received October 6, 980 Absorption and emission spectra o f stilbene 3 (Na-bis-ortho-stilbene-sulphonate) were measured and discussed on the basis of quantum-chemical calculations. The decay of the polarized fluorescence was investigated, yielding information about the rotational behaviour of stilbene 3 in solutions.. Introduction Dye laser materials should be resistent to photodecomposition and should have a high quantum yield and good thermal stability. In the blue-violet lasing region, scintillator and coumarin dyes are often used. A new class of laser dyes in this spectral region are the bis-styryl compounds [, 2, 3]. Stilbene 3 (Na-bis-ortho-stilbene sulphonate) in particular is a highly efficient photostable dye, soluble in water and alcohols. Strong absorption in the wavelength region of nm makes this dye suitable for excitation which N2-pulse and Arcw lasers. With this dye, we obtained tunable laser action generating single spikes of less than 450 ps fwhm duration in ethylene glycol-methanol solutions excited with a subnanosecond compact TEA N2 laser [4] of only 0 [xj pulse energy but 200 Hz repetition rate. It should be emphasized that no laser action could be obtained under these conditions for rhodamine 6G or 4-methylumbelliferone solutions. These favourable properties of stilbene 2 motivated us to study its spectral characteristics along with the decay and polarization of its fluorescence, as well as to perform some relevant quantumchemical calculations for this molecule. culations, all those configurations which are symmetry allowed in the first singlet excited state, were included. The geometrical model shown in Fig. was used. The stilbene-like parts were taken to be planar with bond lengths 0.4 nm and 0.48 nm in the benzene rings and between the ethylene carbon atoms and benzene rings, respectively. We assumed the length of the ethylenic bonds to be 0.35 nm and all angles 20. For a justification of these assumptions see Ref. [5]. In contrast to [3], the trans-configuration of the whole molecule was assumed because of the repelling interaction between the two sulphonate which carry a negative charge on their atoms. groups, oxygen The length of the central bond between the two stilbene-like parts was assumed to be 0.5 nm, and two values for the twisting angle 0 around this NG + \ 0,V,0 ^. / \ V \ \ / / / 0,48 x 2. Quantum-Chemical Calculations We applied the PPP method with the Mataga- Nishimoto integral approximation. In the CI cal- Reprint requests to Prof. R. K. Bauer, Institute of Physics, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Grudzi^dzka 5, Torun, Poland. Fig.. Geometrical model of stilbene 3 with 0 = 0. Bond lengths are given in nm / 80 / $ 0.00/0. - Please order a reprint rather than making your own copy.

2 R. K. Bauer et al. Some Luminescence Properties of the Laser Dye Stilbene b o n d were considered: 45 for the ground state conformation and 0 f o r the first excited state, b y analogy with biphenyl [6]. Geometry-dependent resonance integrals ßTH between carbon atoms were used as f o l l o w s : ßrs(0) = ßrS(KTS) ßoCOs e, = ßo e x p ( 8.62 i? r s ) , with IiTS in nm. Provision was made for the inclusion o f p / 7 - d / 7 interactions within the tetrahedrally hybridized sulphonate group (see for example [7]): d z s and d x t. y t orbitals are especially suitable for II interactions, which were therefore included in the P P P calculations taking the sulphur a t o m t o be located in the stilbene plane. It should be mentioned that stilbene 3 is a dianion and N a + does not form ion pairs with it, as indicated Table 2. Calculated properties of the ground and first excited singlet states of stilbene 3, Na-ortho-stilbene sulphonate and stilbene AE/f* 7V b ^(/V.z)6 -SOto,*/) (no, Z) Q(-S03)c <?*(-S0 3 ) P] i, a P{ v P6 7 P$ 7 Pb 6 PI, 6 30./ / b y the the high c o n d u c t i v i t y of stilbene 3 water and a glycerol solutions. Nevertheless it is important t o b take the interaction o f these charges into account. I f this interaction is neglected, m u c h t o o low excitation energies are obtained. T h e strong influence Na-ortho- Stilbene stilbene sulphonate Stilbene 3 twisting angle c d e 32.83/ / SQ-SI transition energy [03 cm - ]/oscillator strength. transition moment [Debye]. charge of sulphonate group. bond orders in the ground and excited (*) state (for numbering of atoms see Figure ). for the coordinate system xxjz of. Figure. of the position o f positive charges with respect to the sulphur atom can be interpreted as a field effect operating differently in the ground and excited states. This difference is connected with a slight charge shift f r o m the o x y g e n atoms t o sulphur and carbon atoms in the first excited state, although the charge o f the whole sulphonate group remains constant. T h e results presented in this work were calculated with t w o positive charges placed about 0.3 n m f r o m the sulphur atoms, in line with the C - S bonds. Table contains the parameters used in our calculations. F o r comparison, calculations using ortho-stilbene-sulphonate and other stilbenes [8]. The results energies and of our calculations transition moments concerning are shown the in T a b l e 2. S o m e interesting features of stilbene 3 are evident f r o m the results presented in T a b l e 2. Thus, if we were treating stilbene 3 like a dimer of t w o nonoverlapping Na-ortho-stilbene-sulphonate mono- mers M, we should obtain a d o u b l e d value of the transition m o m e n t t o the excited state the same parametrization were performed for Naw* Table. Parameters for the PPP calculations. = - A - (^Ml - nn ^M2), because o f the tail t o tail arrangement of the t w o Nnb yxxc #cxd rc\ [nm] m o n o m e r transition dipoles [9] see text is c o n n e c t e d with the overlap o f the t w o m o n o m e r -0" S atom X a b c d /p(x)a The somewhat lower value actually obtained electronic wavefunctions. I t should be mentioned that the first e x c i t e d state is characterized b y a H O M O - ^ L U M O orbital transition and leads to a m o r e quinoidal structure, as in the case of stilbene. T h e changes of b o n d orders confirm this conclusion. valence state ionization potential in ev (for the C H 3 radical the value for the carbon atom is assumed). number of II electrons per atomic orbital. one center two electron integral in ev. factor for ßcx = ßo Kcx with ß0 = 2.38 ev. A n especially interesting feature o f stilbene 3 is the strengthening o f the central b o n d - in the e x c i t e d state. This supports the assumed analogy with biphenyl.

32 R. K. Bauer et al. Some Luminescence Properties of the Laser Dye Stilbene 3 3. Absorption and Emission Spectra A sample of stilbene 3, received from Dr. R. Raue, was used without further purification in the solvents ethylene glycol, glycerol (5% aqueous), water and methanol.

3 32 R. K. Bauer et al. Some Luminescence Properties of the Laser Dye Stilbene 3 3. Absorption and Emission Spectra A sample of stilbene 3, received from Dr. R. Raue, was used without further purification in the solvents ethylene glycol, glycerol (5% aqueous), water and methanol. Special care was taken to avoid any fluorescence of the solvente themselves. At the concentration 2 x 0~ 5 M the optical density did not exceed 0.2. In the absorption spectra of stilbene 3 in water and ethylene glycol (Fig. 2.) one observes a pronounced shift between these two absorption curves. The absorption spectra measured in water and methanol are practically the same, as is also the case for glycerol and ethylene glycol. The observed solvent shift cannot be explained by different dielectric influences. The only parameter of the solvents apparently correlated with the shift is the viscosity, but we cannot provide any explanation of this phenomenon. The calculated electronic transition energies and relative oscillator strengths are also compared with the experimental spectra in Figure 2. For chargesulphur atom separations within the range of 0.22 to 0.35 nm, the three absorption bands agree qualitatively with the calculated allowed electronic transitions. The agreement for these transitions is best at about 0.3 nm. The other properties did not change significantly within this range. The emission spectra were measured in glycerol, in ethylene glycol and in a : water-ethylene glycol mixture at different temperatures and excitation wavelengths. A "Spectrim" (CTi-Cyrogenics) sample cooler was used to attain the low temperatures. Some of the emission spectra obtained are also shown in Figure 2. It is evident that the absorption and emission spectral overlap is small. A characteristic feature of the emission spectra is the pronounced vibrational structure contrasting with the structureless absorption profiles. This phenomenon may be understood in terms of the angular orientation of the two stilbene-sulphonate moieties connected by a biphenyl-like bond. There is a strong analogy to the case of biphenyl [0]. As is well known, this molecule is planar in its first excited state but twisted in the ground state by 42 []. The emission spectra of stilbene 3 in glycerol for different temperatures and excitation wavelengths are shown in Figure 3. At 340 K the emission spectra are red-shifted, practically independent of the excitation wavelength and broader than the spectra measured at 80 K. At this lower temperature the Fig. 2. Normalized absorption and emission spectra of stilbene 3 under various conditions. Absorption spectra for (a) water and methanol, and (b) ethylene glycol and glycerol solutions at 293 K. Fluorescence spectra for (c) : mixed water and ethylene glycol solutions at (d) 20 K and (e) 293 K. Excitation wavelength: 365 nm. The vertical bars represent the calculated transition energies and oscillator strengths / for a charge-sulphur atom separation of 0.2 nm. The arrows indicate transitions forbidden for the plane geometry, slightly allowed for the twisted one.

4 322 R. K. Bauer et al. Some Luminescence Properties of the Laser Dye Stilbene 3 T h e excitation wavelength dependence of the emission profile at the blue edge supports the concept o f V a n Metter and K n o x [3]. Basing their treatment on the idea o f inhomogeneous broadening introduced b y Mazurenko [4], t h e y dealt quantitatively with the excitation wavelength dependence o f spectra. A c c o r d i n g t o their theory, such a dependence o f the emission spectra should occur if the average lifetime r s o f the fluctuations in the environm e n t o f the solute molecule is longer than the mean fluorescence lifetime Tf. A t 80 K one can safely estimate that r s must be orders o f magnitude longer Fig. 3. Fluorescence spectra of stilbene 3 in glycerol at 340 K (a, b) and 80 K (d, d). Excitation wavelengths were 33 nm (a, c) and 365 nm (b, d). than Tf. This is not so at 340 K, where the inequality rs Tf n o longer holds and the excitation wave- length dependence o f the emission spectra practically disappears. emission excited at 33 nm is broader at the blue edge and less structured in comparison with the emission excited at 365 nm. Besides the observed 4. Decay and Polarization of Emission spectral shift, the temperature change also leads t o D u e t o Brownian rotations o f the d y e molecule a change in the relative emission intensities o f the together with its solvation shell, the parallel and vibrational bands. Such a change in the structure o f perpendicular polarized c o m p o n e n t s of the the emission spectra, superimposed u p o n the spec- cence intensity d o n o t d e c a y fluores- monoexponentially tral shift, indicates that the latter cannot be e x - and their m e a n d e c a y times are different. As was plained o n l y on the basis of the Onsager-Böttcher first shown b y Jablonski [5], the d e c a y of these t h e o r y [2]. W e w o u l d like to interpret the temper- c o m p o n e n t s is governed b y the equations: ature induced change of the vibrational structure in the following w a y : the C - C stretching potential in the ground state reaches its minimum at a consider- IQ /II (t) = a b l y shorter C - C b o n d length for the twisted g e o m etry c o m p a r e d with the non-twisted one (repulsion between the ortho-hydrogens [0]. I n the excited I±{t)= h ( + 2 r0 {\-rqe-m)e-tn, e ~, () if one assumes that b o t h the molecular emission state, due t o the strengthening o f the biphenyl- and the emission anisotropy ( E A ) r (t), decay m o n o - like C - C 77-bond w r hich compensates the repulsion exponentially. In E q. (), ro denotes the limiting between hydrogen atoms, the twisting E A, i.e. the value observed when the rotational potential becomes more flat, and therefore the dependence o f depolarization is negligible, cp is the reciprocal o f the the rotational correlation time and r is the mean C-C stretching potential minimum on the twisting angle should be small. lifetime of the excited state. A t 340 K the relaxation along the twisting angle T h e assumption o f the monoexponential decay o f coordinate enables the vertical emissive transition the E A, r(t) = ro e x p { c p t ) is justified if the d y e f r o m the minimum o f the twisting potential curve. molecule with its solvation shell rotates isotropically, This relaxation is hindered at 80 K and the transi- i.e. if it is effectively spherical or if the absorption tion t o the ground state takes place f r o m higher a n d / o r emission dipole m o m e n t is parallel with the twisting levels t o different values o f the C - C stretch- s y m m e t r y axis of an effective ellipsoid of revolu- ing coordinate in the ground state, i.e., t o other tion. Based u p o n E q. (), Jablonski derived ex- vibrational levels. F r o m the a b o v e considerations it pressions for the mean d e c a y times of the polarized follows that different vibrational fluorescence intensities are possible at different temperatures. This model also components. I f these decay times r" and r x are measured as a function o f temperature accounts for the bathochromic shift a c c o m p a n y i n g T a n d / o r viscosity rj together with the mean E A the temperature increase. <r>, one is able t o calculate the value of ro and

5 323 R. K. Bauer et al. Some Luminescence Properties of the Laser Dye Stilbene 3 (p IcTIr) V and finally the effective volume of the dye with its solvation shell V [6]. The decay times of the polarized components and the EA of the fluorescence of stilbene 3 dissolved in glycerolmethanol mixtures were measured by means of a phase-fluorometer and compensation Polarimeter, respectively. The viscosity of these mixtures was measured using the Hoeppler viscometer. The results of these measurements are presented in Table 3 and Figure 4. The quite accurate fit between calculated and measured values of T"/T and r x /r means that the assumption of an exponential decay of the EA is justified. We conclude therefore that stilbene 3 molecules, which are of a rather elongated shape, behave in solution like quasispherical* particles, which allows us to calculate * In our case, for V.5 X 0~ 2 cm 3 and taking the effective length of the stilbene 3 molecule as about 2 nm (Fig. ) we estimate an axial ratio of about : 4, assuming a rod-shaped solvation shell. In contrast to this, calculations for the prolate ellipsoid of revolution based on Perrin's formulae [7] lead to an axial ratio value of about which indicates that the solvation shell is effectively spherical. the effective volume V. The calculated volumes depended on the solvent composition. Since the solvent shell may be considered to arise from solute-solvent interaction, its volume will reflect the magnitude and/or character of this interaction. The values of the limiting EA are constant at r0 = within the limits of experimental error. For a linear oscillator with parallel absorption and emission transition moments, the maximum value of the EA is equal 0.4. The observed difference might be due to an angle ö between absorption and emission transition moments, for which the maximum value of the EA is ri 0.6 cos 2 ( The value of 6 obtained from the quantumchemical calculations (results in Table 2) is on the order of, leading to rf = It is therefore evident that stilbene 3 in solution undergoes rapid librations which are independent of solvent composition. The average value of the mean decay time r of total fluorescence is ± 0.05 ns. This short lifetime is advantageous for laser action because, combined with the high % of T viscosity <r> T" R R V cp alcohol [K] [cp] [ns] [ns] [ns] [0-22 cm3] [io? Table 3. Parameters of thermal rotations of stil- bene 3 molecules dissolved in glycerol-methanol mixtures. s_ ] Fig. 4. Mean decay time ratios of polarized fluorescence components for stilbene 3 in mixed glycerol and methanol solvents versus EA. Solid line: values calculated for ro =

324 R. K. Bauer et al. Some Luminescence Properties of the Laser Dye Stilbene 3 quantum efficiency of stilbene 3, it implies high radiative deactivation rates and low triplet formation efficiency.

6 324 R. K. Bauer et al. Some Luminescence Properties of the Laser Dye Stilbene 3 quantum efficiency of stilbene 3, it implies high radiative deactivation rates and low triplet formation efficiency. The authors would like to thank Dr. R. Raue from the Leverkusen-Bayerwerk for supplying us with the dye studied. We also express our gratitude to Dr. R. E. Dale for careful proof reading of the manuscript. This work was carried out as part of Research Project MR.5. [] H. Telle, U. Brinkmann, and R. Raue, Opt. Comm. 24, 33 (978). [2] H. Telle, U. Brinkmann, and R. Raue, Opt. Comm. 24, 248 (978). [3] J. Kühl. H. Telle, R. Schieder, and U. Brinkmann, Opt. Comm. 24, 25 (978). [4] R. K. Bauer and A. Kowalczyk, Opt. Comm. 23, 69 (977). [5] A. Warshel, J. Chem. Phys. 62, 24 (975). [6] P. Scharfenberg and Ch. Jung. Chem. Phys. Lett. 57, 3 (978). [7] F. A. Cotton and G. Wilkinson, Advanced Inorganic Chemistry, John Wiley, New York 962. [8] A. Kawski, I. Gryczynski, Ch. Jung, and K. H. Heckner, Z. Naturforsch. 32a, 420 (977). [9] J. N. Murrell, The Theory of the Electronic Spectra of Organic Molecules, Methuen, London 963. [0] I. B. Berlman, Handbook of Fluorescence Spectra of Aromatic Molecules, Chapter 4, Academic Press, London 97. [] 0. Bastiansen, Acta Chem. Scand. 3, 408 (949). [2] C. J. F. Böttcher, Theory of Electric Polarization, Elsevier, Amsterdam 952. [3] R. L. Van Metter and R. S. Knox, Chem. Phys. 2, 333 (976). [4] Yu. T. Mazurenko, Opt. Spectroscopy 33, 22 (972). 36, 49 (974). [5] A. Jablonski, Z. Naturforsch. 6a, (96). [6] R. K. Bauer, Z. Naturforsch. 8a, 78 (963). [7] T. Tao, Biopolymers 8, 609 (969).

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