Luminescence of Polysilanes

The fluorescence of polysilanes has received much attention in recent years, in part because of the discovery that some poly silanes are electroluminescent, and so may have applications in display technology. Fluorescence spectra, quantum yields, lifetimes and other properties for dialkylpolysilanes have been thoroughly investigated by Sun and coworkers.98 Dialkylpolysilanes exhibit fluorescence of a rather normal type, in which the emission is a mirror image of the absorption, with a rather small Stokes shift. This suggests that the emission takes place from a highly delocalized state, probably an 

The deliberate introduction of branch points in the structure of dialkylpolysilanes also leads to a broad long-wavelength emission, which appears to be characteristic for three-dimensional poly silanes. 

The discovery that polysilanes show luminescence in an electric field, electroluminescence, has aroused considerable interest in the possible use of polysilanes in light-emitting diodes and other electronic devices.101102 

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