Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 February 2011
We report a study of the optical and photoexcitation properties of a new polyalkylthiophene:poly[(3-pentyl-5-oxoazobenzene)thiophene]. UV-Vis absorption and emission, IR absorption, Raman scattering, indicate that the steric hindrance of the side chain induces some rotational disorder of the backbone but the π electron delocalization is not substantially differing from other polyalkylthiophenes. Long lived photoexcitations have been characterized by photoinduced absorption. The spectral features are intrinsic to the polyconjugated thiophene chain, even when the backbone and the azo chromophore are both photoexcited by UV light.