A molecular thermometer based on long-lived emission from platinum octaethyl porphyrin

A highly sensitive molecular thermometer based on platinum octaethyl porphyrin, which can be employed in a range of environments, is presented. The thermal activation of the emission spectrum results in a change in emission intensity by an order of magnitude over a temperature range of 45 K about room temperature. The long-lived molecular emission enables the characterization of thermal effects in common conjugated polymers under optical excitation. It is found that optical heating does not contribute to material breakdown, which is governed by photo-oxidation. (C) 2002 American Institute of Physics