Abstract The complex choreography of electronic, vibrational, and vibronic couplings used by photoexcited molecules to transfer energy efficiently is remarkable, but an unambiguous description of the temporally evolving vibronic states governing these processes has proven experimentally elusive. We use multidimensional electronic-vibrational spectroscopy to identify specific time-dependent excited state vibronic couplings involving multiple electronic states, high-frequency vibrations, and low-frequency vibrations which participate in ultrafast intersystem crossing and subsequent relaxation of a photoexcited transition metal complex. We discover an excited state vibronic mechanism driving long-lived charge separation consisting of an initial electronically-localized vibrational wavepacket which triggers delocalization onto two charge transfer states after propagating for ~600 femtoseconds. Electronic delocalization consequently occurs through nonadiabatic internal conversion driven by a 50 cm−1coupling resulting in vibronic coherence transfer lasting for ~1 picosecond. This study showcases the power of multidimensional electronic-vibrational spectroscopy to elucidate complex, non-equilibrium energy and charge transfer mechanisms involving multiple molecular coordinates.
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A Theoretical Study of Polarization Selective Two-Dimensional Vibronic Spectroscopies of Multimode Systems
A model vibronic Hamiltonian composed of coupled anharmonic vibrational modes and two electronic states provides a quantitative framework for understanding how vibronic couplings and dipole orientations are encoded in two-dimensional vibronic spectroscopy.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1856413
- PAR ID:
- 10470815
- Publisher / Repository:
- Optica Publishing Group
- Date Published:
- ISBN:
- 978-1-943580-83-5
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- M4B.20
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Location:
- Washington, D.C.
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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