Tuning single-molecule fluorescence by atomic-scale control of the local environment

Abstract

Molecules that absorb and emit light play a central role in microscopy, light-emitting devices and photosynthesis. Their fluorescence arises from well-defined radiative transitions that are governed by the electronic states and their coupling to the nuclear motion that are influenced by the local environment. Yet the effect of controlled atomic-scale variations in the emitter surroundings remains unexplored. Here, we use scanning tunneling microscopy combined with optical spectroscopy to investigate the optical response of a single phthalocyanine to the change in the position of a nearby molecule, controlled with precision better than 100 pm. Upon decreasing the intermolecular distance, the molecular emission energy redshifts and its line profile evolves. Supported by theoretical calculations, we disentangle the electronic and nuclear contributions to the changes in fluorescence. We find that the redshift originates from the interaction between the excitations of the two molecules, while the lineshape changes reflect modifications of the molecular rotational degree of freedom and non-equilibrium dynamics. We extend this control to larger assemblies, where one molecule tunes the energies of two chromophores, mimicking the environmental tuning in photosynthetic systems. Our study provides atomic-scale insight into how the local environment affects the optical properties of molecular systems.