The Laporte rule dictates that one‐ and two‐photon absorption spectra of inversion‐symmetric molecules should display alternatively forbidden electronic transitions; however, for organic fluorophores, drawing clear distinction between the symmetric‐ and non‐inversion symmetric two‐photon spectra is often obscured due to prevalent vibronic interactions. We take advantage of consecutive single‐ and double‐protonation to break and then reconstitute inversion symmetry in a nominally symmetric diketopyrrolopyrrole, causing large changes in two‐photon absorption. By performing detailed one‐ and two‐photon titration experiments, with supporting quantum‐chemical model calculations, we explain how certain low‐frequency vibrational modes may lead to apparent deviations from the strict Laporte rule. As a result, the system may be indeed considered as an on‐off‐on inversion symmetry switch, opening new avenues for two‐photon sensing applications.
The Laporte rule dictates that one‐ and two‐photon absorption spectra of inversion‐symmetric molecules should display alternatively forbidden electronic transitions; however, for organic fluorophores, drawing clear distinction between the symmetric‐ and non‐inversion symmetric two‐photon spectra is often obscured due to prevalent vibronic interactions. We take advantage of consecutive single‐ and double‐protonation to break and then reconstitute inversion symmetry in a nominally symmetric diketopyrrolopyrrole, causing large changes in two‐photon absorption. By performing detailed one‐ and two‐photon titration experiments, with supporting quantum‐chemical model calculations, we explain how certain low‐frequency vibrational modes may lead to apparent deviations from the strict Laporte rule. As a result, the system may be indeed considered as an on‐off‐on inversion symmetry switch, opening new avenues for two‐photon sensing applications.
more » « less- Award ID(s):
- 2103628
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10381438
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Angewandte Chemie International Edition
- Volume:
- 61
- Issue:
- 51
- ISSN:
- 1433-7851
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
More Like this
-
more » « less
Abstract -
more » « less
Abstract We present the two‐photon absorption (2PA) spectrum of aqueous thiocyanate calculated using high‐level quantum‐chemistry methods. The 2PA spectrum is compared to the one‐photon absorption (1PA) spectrum computed using the same computational protocol. Although the two spectra probe the same set of electronic states, the intensity patterns are different, leading to an apparent red‐shift of the 2PA spectrum relative to the 1PA spectrum. The presented analysis explains the intensity patterns and attributes the differences between the 1PA and 2PA spectra to the native symmetry of isolated SCN, which influences the spectra in the low‐symmetry solvated environment. The native symmetry also manifests itself in variations of the polarization ratio (e.g., parallel vs. perpendicular cross sections) across the spectrum. The presented results highlight the potential of 2PA spectroscopy and high‐level quantum‐chemistry methods in studies of condensed‐phase phenomena.
-
A two-step route to strongly absorbing and efficiently orange to deep red fluorescent, doubly B/N-doped, ladder-type pyrrolo[3,2- b ]pyrroles has been developed. We synthesize and study a series of derivatives of these four-coordinate boron-containing, nominally quadrupolar materials, which mostly exhibit one-photon absorption in the 500–600 nm range with the peak molar extinction coefficients reaching 150 000, and emission in the 520–670 nm range with the fluorescence quantum yields reaching 0.90. Within the family of these ultrastable dyes even small structural changes lead to significant variations of the photophysical properties, in some cases attributed to reversal of energy ordering of alternate-parity excited electronic states. Effective preservation of ground-state inversion symmetry was evidenced by very weak two-photon absorption (2PA) at excitation wavelengths corresponding to the lowest-energy, strongly one-photon allowed purely electronic transition. π-Expanded derivatives and those possessing electron-donating groups showed the most red-shifted absorption- and emission spectra, while displaying remarkably high peak 2PA cross-section ( σ 2PA ) values reaching ∼2400 GM at around 760 nm, corresponding to a two-photon allowed higher-energy excited state. At the same time, derivatives lacking π-expansion were found to have a relatively weak 2PA peak centered at ca. 800–900 nm with the maximum σ 2PA ∼50–250 GM. Our findings are augmented by theoretical calculations performed using TD-DFT method, which reproduce the main experimental trends, including the 2PA, in a nearly quantitative manner. Electrochemical studies revealed that the HOMO of the new dyes is located at ca . −5.35 eV making them relatively electron rich in spite of the presence of two B − –N + dative bonds. These dyes undergo a fully reversible first oxidation, located on the diphenylpyrrolo[3,2- b ]pyrrole core, directly to the di(radical cation) stage.more » « less
-
Multiphoton absorption of entangled photons offers ways for obtaining unique information about chemical and biological processes. Measurements with entangled photons may enable sensing biological signatures with high selectivity and at very low light levels to protect against photodamage. In this paper, we present a theoretical and experimental study of the excitation wavelength dependence of the entangled two-photon absorption (ETPA) process in a molecular system, which provides insights into how entanglement affects molecular spectra. We demonstrate that the ETPA excitation spectrum can be different from that of classical TPA as well as that for one-photon resonant absorption (OPA) with photons of doubled frequency. These results are modeled by assuming the ETPA cross-section is governed by a two-photon excited state radiative linewidth rather than by electron-phonon interactions, and this leads to excitation spectra that match the observed results. Further, we find that the two-photon-allowed states with highest TPA and ETPA intensities have high electronic entanglements, with ETPA especially favoring states with the longest radiative lifetimes. These results provide concepts for the development of quantum light–based spectroscopy and microscopy that will lead to much higher efficiency of ETPA sensors and low-intensity detection schemes.more » « less
-
more » « less
We show that concept of parity-time (PT) symmetry can be expanded to include mixed photon-exciton modes by demonstrating that eigenmodes of active (pumped) strongly coupled cavity polaritons with population inversion exhibit characteristics that are remarkably akin to those of coupled photonic structures with parity-time symmetry. The exceptional point occurs when the Rabi splitting of polariton branches inherent in passive polaritonic systems decreases with increase in pumping, leading to population inversion, and eventually two polaritonic modes merge into a single mode, thus manifesting the frequency pulling effect inherent to all lasers. But, remarkably, this exceptional point occurs below the lasing threshold. Furthermore, unlike most manifestations of PT symmetry in optics, which are observed in the interaction between two analogous photonic modes in waveguides or cavities, in this work the exceptional point is found in interaction between two very dissimilar modes—one photonic and one material excitation (exciton). Aside from fundamentally noteworthy expansion of the concept of PT symmetry to new systems, there is a prospect of using the exceptional point in polaritons for practical applications, such as sensing.
