Single Lévy States–Disorder Induced Energy Funnels in Molecular Aggregates

Using
fluorescence super-resolution microscopy we studied simultaneous spectral,
spatial localization, and blinking behavior of individual 1D J-aggregates.
Excitons migrating 100 nm are funneled to a trap appearing as an additional
red-shifted blinking fluorescence band. We propose that the trap is
a Frenkel exciton state formed much below the main exciton band edge
due to an environmentally induced heavy-tailed Lévy disorder.
This points to disorder engineering as a new avenue in controlling
light-harvesting in molecular ensembles