Abstract
PHB studies performed for polymer nanoparticle systems bearing single dye molecules are reviewed. In polymer nanoparticle systems with a single dye molecule, such as hemeproteins and anphiphilic polymer micelles, nanoscopic environments of the dye molecule play important roles for their function. Photochemical hole burning (PHB) (or more generally persistent spectral hole burning) is a sensitive spectroscopy to study the interaction between a doped dye molecule and a surrounding matrix. Homogeneous and inhomogeneous widths, hole broadening properties, and pressure effects of substituted myoglobin suggest that proteins have more ordered nanoenvironments than conventional amorphous systems. Low-energy excitation mode of a polymer micelle with a porphyrine dye and cyclododecyl groups indicated the strong packing of the cyclododecyl groups in the micellar systems.
