Breakdown of the optical saturation regime in molecular single-photon emitters

Abstract

Solid-state single organic molecules, such as dibenzoterrylene (DBT) in organic matrices, are prominent deterministic single-photon sources, usually modeled as effective two-level systems (TLS). We show that single DBT molecules in anthracene nanocrystals, under strong continuous-wave driving, depart from this picture: instead of the expected saturation, fluorescence is strongly suppressed at high resonant pump power, while the linewidth broadens beyond the TLS prediction -- an \emph{anomalous saturation} regime. Comparing coherent and incoherent excitation and independently calibrating temperature via phonon-induced dephasing rules out laser-induced heating and intersystem crossing. Instead, a model of intensity-dependent excited-state absorption (ESA) toward a short-lived dark state quantitatively reproduces both the fluorescence suppression and the linewidth broadening. We further show that matrix quality mitigates this quenching, and that pulsed excitation schemes are strategic toward full population inversion, with direct implications for quantum nanophotonics and molecular optomechanics.