Single-molecule fluorescence of terrylene embedded in anthracene matrix: A room temperature study

We characterized room-temperature fluorescence properties of single terrylene molecules embedded in anthracene thin films that were prepared by spin-coating on glass substrates. Our results show that terrylene molecules embedded in anthracene matrix are oriented nearly parallel to the substrate. Typical measured fluorescence lifetime of terrylene was 3.6 ns and photon count rate at saturation was 750 kHz. Our analyses of 104 molecules indicate that we can detect on average 1.6 × 106 photons from a single terrylene molecule before it photobleaches. These results make terrylene–anthracene a promising guest-host system for room temperature single molecule experiments.