Lateral diffusion of three different dye molecules (terrylene and two perylene diimides) in 4 to 225 nm thin films of 8CB liquid crystals in the smectic-A phase has been investigated on a single molecule level. The influence of film thickness on tracer diffusion can be qualitatively modeled by a hydrodynamic approach. Molecular tracking experiments as well as fluorescence correlation (FCS) studies reveal the presence of diffusion dynamics which span a range of at least more than one order of magnitude in time, which is much larger than the reported anisotropic self-diffusion observed for 8CB bulk samples. We tentatively assign the heterogeneity to the formation of diffusion limiting domains on a micrometer scale within the 8CB films or at the interfaces.

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Optical spectroscopy on ensembles and single CdSe/ZnS semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) demonstrates a competition of trap and near band edge photoluminescence (PL). This competition can be markedly influenced by a few surface attached pyridyl functionalized dye molecules (porphyrins or perylene diimides) forming nanoassemblies with well defined geometries. Temperature variation and related changes in absorption and emission reveal sharp changes of the ligand shell structure in a narrow temperature range for organic (TOPO and amine) surfactants (phase transition). The effects on QD PL at this transition become considerably pronounced upon attachment of only a few dye molecules to QD surface. Moreover, under ambient conditions amine capped QDs are photodegraded in the course of time. This process is enhanced by attached dye molecules both on the ensemble and single particle/dye level. This investigation elaborates the importance of (switchable) surface states for the characterization of the PL of QDs.

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We report on the simultaneous detection of the fluorescence lifetime, spectrum, and three-dimensional dipole orientation determination of single perylene diimide molecules deposited on a silica surface as a model system for studying fluorophore internal and orientational dynamics. We employ a multi-parameter detection scheme to demonstrate how jumps in the orientation of the molecule can be disentangled from spectral jumps, both leading to changes of the detected total fluorescence intensity. The fluorescence lifetime determined simultaneously from the same photons is also sensitive to the orientation of the dipole with respect to the interface between media with different refractive indices. The correlated changes of the lifetime and orientation we observe are in good agreement with theory.