Time resolved fluorescence of anthracene in mixed crystals at 2K

An optical Kerr shuttered spectrograph has been used to time resolve the spontaneous fluorescence of aromatic mixed crystal systems at low temperature with moderate resolution. Transient effects on the fluorescence of anthracene in naphthalene excited with 614 cm^?1 vibrational excess energy in ¹B_2u have been observed that may signal measurable vibrational relaxation pathways. A model consistent with these observations is presented: it implicates a strong interaction between the intramolecular Franck—Condon and non-Franck—Condon modes in the relaxation process for specific excitation in the region of large excess lattice energy. Examination of the fluorescence for several aromatic systems integrated over the interval 0 to 30 ps following excitation high in the S₁ vibrational manifold failed to reveal evidence of non-Boltzmann vibrational distributions, although other largely unexplained effects have been observed.