Study of Carrier Generation in Titanyl Phthalocyanine (TiOPc) by Electric-Field-Induced Quenching of Integrated and Time-Resolved Fluorescence

We have studied the influence of electric field and humidity on photoconductivity and fluorescence in particles of highly photoconductive Y-form TiOPc dispersed in a poly(vinylbutyral) polymer matrix. Both integrated and time-resolved fluorescence quenching by electric field were measured. Integrated fluorescence quenching showed a linear dependence at low applied fields and a linear correlation with carrier generation efficiency. Time-resolved fluorescence decays were analyzed by fitting the data to a sum of two exponentials representing fast and slow fluorescence components. Qualitative features of fluorescence decay were the same for low and high humidity levels. The amplitude and lifetime changes of the two fluorescence components upon the application of the electric field are in agreement with theory which describes energy transfer between free and trapped exciton states. These results indicate that carrier generation in Y-TiOPc originates from both relaxed and nonrelaxed intrinsic excited singlet states, while the trapped excitons do not lead to significant carrier production. The field dependence of integrated fluorescence quenching supports the existence of a carrier precursor state with charge-transfer character.