Spincoated polyethylene films for single-molecule optics

We present first results from single-molecule experiments on spincoated polyethylene films doped with terrylene (Tr) or 2.3,8.9-dibenzanthanthrene (DBATT). Perfectly clear films have been produced with a thickness of 100–200 nm. We have performed both polarization-dependent single-molecule spectroscopy and single-molecule position determination (microscopy) experiments on these samples. Of the two systems we tested, DBATT in polyethylene proved the most practical for single-molecule experiments. We aim to use this system to study the length-scale of locally increased order in the semi-crystalline polymer polyethylene.