Time-Varying Triplet State Lifetimes of Single Molecules

It is found that triplet state lifetimes and intersystem crossing yields of individual molecules embedded in a polymer host at room temperature are not constant in time. The range over which the triplet lifetime of a single molecule varies during long observation times shows a strong similarity with the distribution of lifetime values obtained during short observation times of many individual molecules dispersed in space. The similarity is an elegant manifestation of the ergodic principle of statistical physics.