How do molecules move near T g? Molecular rotation of six probes in o-terphenyl across 14 decades in time

Time resolved optical spectroscopy was used to observe molecular rotation over more than 14 decades in time for six probes in o-terphenyl (OTP). In contrast to previous studies, probe rotation times are found to depend significantly upon probe size in the deeply supercooled regime. Systematic deviations from the temperature dependence of the Debye–Stokes–Einstein equation are observed, however, these deviations are relatively small. These observations are inconsistent with some models of cooperative molecular motion near Tg which invoke rigid aggregates or locally liquidlike regions. The width of the relaxation spectrum (characterized by the KWW β parameter) systematically decreases with increasing probe size. Near Tg, the largest probe (rubrene) rotates with nearly a single exponential correlation function. Based on the observed trend in β, it is estimated that OTP is homogeneous on length scales greater than 2.5 nm at Tg.