Fine control of photoluminescence and optical waveguiding characteristics of organic rubrene nanorods using focused electron-beam irradiation

We demonstrate the fine control of the nanoscale photoluminescence (PL) and optical waveguiding characteristics of light-emitting organic rubrene nanorods (NRs) through focused electron-beam (E-beam) irradiation. Nanoscale laser confocal microscope PL intensity and spectra of the focused E-beam-treated compartments of the rubrene NR drastically varied with E-beam dose, and yellow-white light emission from those compartments with a specific E-beam dose was observed. In optical waveguiding experiments, the propagation characteristics of optical signals along the single NR were dependent on the crystalline structure of the rubrene. For the E-beam treated NR, the waveguiding PL signals along the crystalline a-axis had relatively higher output, indicating the major axis for the optical energy transfer. Additionally, the waveguiding characteristics such as decay constant along the crystalline b-axis and c-axis of the NR considerably varied at the boundary of the E-beam treatment.