Using confocal fluorescence microscopy under ultrahigh vacuum conditions, we investigate the heterogeneous
interactions between a perylene bisimide fluorophore and single crystalline Al2O3 (0001) at the single molecule level.
We find that the dye molecules undergo reversible transitions to long-lived dark states, with bright and dark periods
lasting from several hundred milliseconds to many tens of seconds. These periods are power-law distributed and point
towards charge tunneling processes from the molecule to the substrate. The fluorescence intensity levels show a bimodal
distribution, indicating different classes of adsorption sites on the sapphire surface. This study is aimed at obtaining a
better understanding of interfacial structure and dynamics in order to address ultimately both the growth of organic
semiconductor films on inorganic surfaces and the heterogeneous nature of charge transfer in excitonic solar cells.
A novel approach to studying interfacial processes in dye-sensitized solar cells is presented. In order to reduce the
complexities of heterogeneity at the heterojunction in such cells, charge transfer is investigated from single fluorescent
molecules (alkyl-perylene bisimide) to a highly defined single-crystalline wide-bandgap semiconductor (GaN) using
confocal fluorescence microscopy under ultrahigh vacuum conditions. We report detailed studies on the energy level
alignment between the perylene bisimide and GaN, characterize the nature of the surfaces involved and demonstrate
confocal fluorescence microscopy in an ultrahigh vacuum set-up. The results reported here indicate that the excited state
in the chromophore lies at 0 ± 100 meV with respect to the bulk conduction band minimum of GaN.
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