Dynamics of Förster Energy Transfer in Pyridium Salt-Doped Thin Films

Properties of photoluminescence and Förster energy transfer dynamics based on an organic pyridium salt trans-4-p-(N-Hydroxyethyl-N-methylamino)Styryl-N-methylpyridinium iodide (ASPI) and organic small molecule Alq3 in PMMA polymeric thin films are investigated by steady-state and time-resolved fluorescent spectra as well as theoretical calculation. The observation of reduced emission intensity and the fluorescent lifetime of Alq3 is demonstrated, while the ASPI emission gradually increases and is finally dominant in the PL spectra with increasing ASPI doping concentration. Such results show that there exists an efficient Förster energy transfer (FET) from Alq3 to ASPI due to the large spectral overlap between ASPI absorption and Alq3 emission. The difference between the theoretical FET efficiency and the experimental data is caused by the lower mobility of the Alq3 exciton in the MMA matrix.