Application of gauge R&R to the rigorous measurement of quantum yield in fluorescent organic solid state systems

A rigorous measurement of the photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) of three luminescent solid state organic material systems is presented. Poly(9,9-dioctylfluorene), perylene (2.97 M in poly(methyl methacrylate)), and perylene red (0.78 M in poly(methyl methacrylate)), were measured using a Ti:sapphire laser yielding 47 +/- 3%, 79 +/- 3%, and 51 +/- 2%, respectively. A GaN diode laser with differing variability was used to measure the PLQY for perylene and perylene red yielding 71 +/- 1.% and 53 +/- 2%, respectively. Variations due to sample preparation (<0.5%), sample degradation (none), and measurement system repeatability (Ti:sapphire approximate to 2%, GaN approximate to 1%) have been determined for each material. Variance in laser intensity is found to be the largest source of error which upon propagation to the PLQY, agrees closely with the uncertainty found by means of the rigorous statistics. This suggests reduction of laser intensity variation could allow much greater precision in absolute determinations of PLQY. Some small systematic bias from calibration and self-absorption corrections cannot be ruled out. The current limit of precision for this measurement is +/-1% using the more stable GaN laser though this apparently depends on the material and sample fabrication. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4737631]