Aggregation quenching of luminescence in electroluminescent conjugated polymers

We report measurements of photoluminescence from films of a soluble phenylenevinylene polymer that has prospective importance as the emissive material in light-emitting diodes. We show unambiguously that there is long-lived emission in this material due to excimers and estimate that the quantum yield for excimer formation is as high as 50%. Since excimers in this polymer largely decay nonradiatively at ambient temperature, their prominence serves to drastically reduce the possible efficiency of electroluminescent conjugated polymer devices.