Optical pumping in an organic crystal: quinoxaline in durene

Experiments have been performed to determine the path of entry into and exit from the phosphorescent triplet state T₀ of quinoxaline in a durene host. First of all the decay of phosphorescence after flash excitation was followed at 4.2 and 1.34 °K. It was found that for both perdeutero- and perhydroquinoxaline the lifetime is shortened by a factor of about three when the temperature is lowered from 4.2 to 1.34 °K. At 1.34 °K relaxation between the spin components (i.e. re-orientation of the triplet spin angular momentum) is slow relative to the decay, and the observed reduction in lifetime indicates that entry into and exit from T₀, are through the same spin component. Similar decay experiments were then carried out at 1.34 °K in a 10 kG magnetic field or in a somewhat weaker field so chosen that the effect of microwave saturation of one of the E.S.R. transitions between the components could be observed. From the results it follows that on intersystem crossing the molecules enter the manifold T₀ through the top zero-field component and thus initially have their spins aligned. Decay departs almost exclusively from the same component, even in the case of perhydroquinoxaline, where at least 45 per cent of it must be radiationless. The decay route agrees with out-of-plane polarization of phosphorescence for the free molecule. Finally, spin alignment on intersystem crossing is discussed from the theoretical point of view. It appears that the phenomenon is clear-cut only in molecules such as those of the aza-aromatics, where strong spin-orbit coupling of the atomic type occurs betwen ππ? and nπ? states.