Absorbance spectra of polycrystalline samples and twinned crystals of oligothiophenes

We propose optical absorption technique at oblique incidence as one of the spectroscopic tools that allow experimentally recognizing the macroscopic order and structural features of molecular solids of conjugated molecules, from single crystals to polycrystalline or twinned samples. We apply this spectroscopy to quaterthiophene as representative of a wide class of materials that usually possess optical transitions of Frenkel exciton origin with strong directional dispersion. The comparison between experimental and simulated data gives evidence of the high sensitivity of this technique for determining quantitatively the polycrystallinity of the measured samples, whose domains may show mirror-like orientation of the unit cell with respect to one of its faces.Frenkel exciton; Oligothiophene, Optical properties. © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.