Polyfluorene nanowires with pronounced axial texturing prepared by melt-assisted template wetting

Poly(9,9-dioctylfluorene) conjugated polymer nanowires were fabricated by melt-assisted wetting of porous anodic alumina templates. Analysis by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction suggested that the polymer molecules were axially textured within the nanowires. Polarized optical microscopy images of single nanowires exhibited a pronounced optical birefringence consistent with internal axial alignment of the polymer molecules. Polarization-resolved photoluminescence images and spectra were acquired following near-field optical addressing of single nanowires. This data revealed that nanowire luminescence was markedly anisotropic with a preferred axial polarization of wire emission.