Recently there has been growing interest in the role of coherence in electronic dynamics. Coherent multidimensional spectroscopy has been used to reveal coherent phenomena in numerous material systems. Here we utilize a recent implementation of coherent multidimensional spectroscopy-two-dimensional photocurrent spectroscopy-in which we detect the photocurrent from a PbS quantum dot photocell resulting from its interactions with a sequence of four ultrafast laser pulses. We observe sub-picosecond evolution of twodimensional spectra consistent with multiple exciton generation. Moreover, a comparison with two-dimensional fluorescence spectra of the quantum dots demonstrates the potential of two-dimensional photocurrent spectroscopy to elucidate detailed origins of photocurrent generating electronic state coherence pathways. Since the measurement is based on detecting the photocell current in situ, the method is well suited to study the fundamental ultrafast processes that affect the function of the device. This opens new avenues to investigate and implement coherent optimization strategies directly within devices.
By applying a phase-modulation fluorescence approach to 2D electronic spectroscopy, we studied the conformation-dependent exciton coupling of a porphyrin dimer embedded in a phospholipid bilayer membrane. Our measurements specify the relative angle and separation between interacting electronic transition dipole moments and thus provide a detailed characterization of dimer conformation. Phase-modulation 2D fluorescence spectroscopy (PM-2D FS) produces 2D spectra with distinct optical features, similar to those obtained using 2D photon-echo spectroscopy. Specifically, we studied magnesium meso tetraphenylporphyrin dimers, which form in the amphiphilic regions of 1,2-distearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine liposomes. Comparison between experimental and simulated spectra show that although a wide range of dimer conformations can be inferred by either the linear absorption spectrum or the 2D spectrum alone, consideration of both types of spectra constrain the possible structures to a "T-shaped" geometry. These experiments establish the PM-2D FS method as an effective approach to elucidate chromophore dimer conformation.fluorescence-detected 2D photon echo | nonlinear spectroscopy | supramolecular conformation | excitonically coupled dimer T he ability to determine three-dimensional structures of macromolecules and macromolecular complexes plays a central role in the fields of molecular biology and material science. Methods to extract structural information from experimental observations such as X-ray crystallography, NMR, and optical spectroscopy are routinely applied to a diverse array of problems, ranging from investigations of biological structure-function relationships to the chemical basis of molecular recognition.In recent years, two-dimensional optical methods have become well established to reveal incisive information about noncrystalline macromolecular systems-information that is not readily obtainable by conventional linear spectroscopic techniques. Twodimensional optical spectroscopy probes the nanometer-scale couplings between vibrational or electronic transition dipole moments of neighboring chemical groups, similar to the way NMR detects the angstrom-scale couplings between adjacent nuclear spins in molecules (1). For example, 2D IR spectroscopy probes the couplings between local molecular vibrational modes and has been used to study the structure and dynamics of mixtures of molecular liquids (2), aqueous solutions of proteins (3), and DNA (4). Similarly, 2D electronic spectroscopy (2D ES) probes correlations of electronic transitions and has been used to study the mechanisms of energy transfer in multichromophore complexes. Such experiments have investigated the details of femtosecond energy transfer in photosynthetic protein-pigment arrays (5-8), conjugated polymers (9), and semiconductors (10, 11).Following the examples established by 2D NMR and 2D IR, 2D ES holds promise as a general approach for the structural analysis of noncrystalline macromolecular systems, albeit for the nanometer length scales ...
Two-dimensional fluorescence spectroscopy (2D FS) is applied to determine the conformation and femtosecond electronic population transfer in a dimer of magnesium meso tetraphenylporphyrin. The dimers are prepared by self-assembly of the monomer within the amphiphilic regions of 1,2-distearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine liposomes. A theoretical framework to describe 2D FS experiments is presented, and a direct comparison is made between the observables of this measurement and those of 2D electronic spectroscopy (2D ES). The sensitivity of the method to varying dimer conformation is explored. A global multivariable fitting analysis of linear and 2D FS data indicates that the dimer adopts a "bent T-shaped" conformation. Moreover, the manifold of singly excited excitons undergoes rapid electronic dephasing and downhill population transfer on the time scale of ∼95 fs. The open conformation of the dimer suggests that its self-assembly is favored by an increase in entropy of the local membrane environment.
Understanding the properties of electronically interacting molecular chromophores, which involve internally coupled electronic-vibrational motions, is important to the spectroscopy of many biologically relevant systems. Here we apply linear absorption, circular dichroism, and two-dimensional fluorescence spectroscopy to study the polarized collective excitations of excitonically coupled cyanine dimers (Cy3) that are rigidly positioned within the opposing sugar-phosphate backbones of the double-stranded region of a double-stranded (ds)-single-stranded (ss) DNA fork construct. We show that the exciton-coupling strength of the (Cy3)-DNA construct can be systematically varied with temperature below the ds-ss DNA denaturation transition. We interpret spectroscopic measurements in terms of the Holstein vibronic dimer model, from which we obtain information about the local conformation of the (Cy3) dimer, as well as the degree of static disorder experienced by the Cy3 monomer and the (Cy3) dimer probe locally within their respective DNA duplex environments. The properties of the (Cy3)-DNA construct we determine suggest that it may be employed as a useful model system to test fundamental concepts of protein-DNA interactions and the role of electronic-vibrational coherence in electronic energy migration within exciton-coupled bio-molecular arrays.
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