Observation of the <i>β</i>‐Phase in Two Short‐Chain Oligofluorenes

Abstract

Abstract The polymer poly(9,9‐dioctylfluorene) (PF8) can be driven into a morphological form termed the β ‐phase that has enhanced planarity and increased structural rigidity. We show that the β ‐phase can be generated in two different fluorene oligomers; a fluorene pentamer, and a short (statistical) oligomer composed of chains having a maximum length of 19 monomer units. By comparing the energy of the zero‐zero phonon line in fluorescence from the β ‐phase oligomers with that in the PF8 polymer, we show that the electronic conjugation length of the β ‐phase is (30 ± 12) monomer‐units, a value consistent with the persistence length of the molecular chain.