Two-dimensional electronic–vibrational sum frequency spectroscopy for interactions of electronic and nuclear motions at interfaces

Interactions of electronic and vibrational degrees of freedom are essential for understanding excited-states relaxation pathways of molecular systems at interfaces and surfaces. Here, we present the development of interface-specific two-dimensional electronic–vibrational sum frequency generation (2D-EVSFG) spectroscopy for electronic–vibrational couplings for excited states at interfaces and surfaces. We demonstrate this 2D-EVSFG technique by investigating photoexcited interface-active (E)-4-((4-(dihexylamino) phenyl)diazinyl)-1-methylpyridin-1- lum (AP3) molecules at the air–water interface as an example. Our 2D-EVSFG experiments show strong vibronic couplings of interfacial AP3 molecules upon photoexcitation and subsequent relaxation of a locally excited (LE) state. Time-dependent 2D-EVSFG experiments indicate that the relaxation of the LE state, S2, is strongly coupled with two high-frequency modes of 1,529.1 and 1,568.1 cm−1. Quantum chemistry calculations further verify that the strong vibronic couplings of the two vibrations promote the transition from the S2 state to the lower excited state S1. We believe that this development of 2D-EVSFG opens up an avenue of understanding excited-state dynamics related to interfaces and surfaces.

Quantum Dynamics of Exciton Transport and Dissociation in Multichromophoric Systems

Due to the subtle interplay of site-to-site electronic couplings, exciton delocalization, nonadiabatic effects, and vibronic couplings, quantum dynamical studies are needed to elucidate the details of ultrafast photoinduced energy and charge transfer events in organic multichromophoric systems. In this vein, we review an approach that combines first-principles parameterized lattice Hamiltonians with accurate quantum dynamical simulations using advanced multiconfigurational methods. Focusing on the elementary transfer steps in organic functional materials, we address coherent exciton migration and creation of charge transfer excitons in homopolymers, notably representative of the poly(3-hexylthiophene) material, as well as exciton dissociation at polymer:fullerene heterojunctions. We emphasize the role of coherent transfer, trapping effects due to high-frequency phonon modes, and thermal activation due to low-frequency soft modes that drive a diffusive dynamics.

Photoinduced charge-transfer in chromophore-labeled gold nanoclusters: quantum evidence of the critical role of ligands and vibronic couplings

We present the first application of the time-dependent density functional tight-binding method to rationalize the photo-induced electron transfer in an experimental hexyl-protected Au25 cluster labeled with a pyrene fluorophore.

Analysis of the Bath Motion in the MM-SQC Dynamics Using Unsupervised Machine Learning Dimensionality Reduction Approaches: Principal Component Analysis

The system-plus-bath model is an important tool to understand nonadiabatic dynamics for large molecular systems. The understanding of the collective motion of a huge number of bath modes is essential to reveal their key roles in the overall dynamics. We apply the principal component analysis (PCA) to investigate the bath motion based on the massive data generated from the MM-SQC (symmetrical quasi-classical dynamics method based on the Meyer-Miller mapping Hamiltonian) nonadiabatic dynamics of the excited-state energy transfer dynamics of Frenkel-exciton model. The PCA method clearly clarifies that two types of bath modes, which either display the strong vibronic couplings or have the frequencies close to electronic transition, are very important to the nonadiabatic dynamics. These observations are fully consistent with the physical insights. This conclusion is obtained purely based on the PCA understanding of the trajectory data, without the large involvement of pre-defined physical knowledge. The results show that the PCA approach, one of the simplest unsupervised machine learning methods, is very powerful to analyze the complicated nonadiabatic dynamics in condensed phase involving many degrees of freedom.

Analysis of the Bath Motion in the MM-SQC Dynamics Using Unsupervised Machine Learning Dimensionality Reduction Approaches: Principal Component Analysis

The system-plus-bath model is an important tool to understand nonadiabatic dynamics for large molecular systems. The understanding of the collective motion of a huge number of bath modes is essential to reveal their key roles in the overall dynamics. We apply the principal component analysis (PCA) to investigate the bath motion based on the massive data generated from the MM-SQC (symmetrical quasi-classical dynamics method based on the Meyer-Miller mapping Hamiltonian) nonadiabatic dynamics of the excited-state energy transfer dynamics of Frenkel-exciton model. The PCA method clearly clarifies that two types of bath modes, which either display the strong vibronic couplings or have the frequencies close to electronic transition, are very important to the nonadiabatic dynamics. These observations are fully consistent with the physical insights. This conclusion is obtained purely based on the PCA understanding of the trajectory data, without the large involvement of pre-defined physical knowledge. The results show that the PCA approach, one of the simplest unsupervised machine learning methods, is very powerful to analyze the complicated nonadiabatic dynamics in condensed phase involving many degrees of freedom.

Quantum Chemical Study Aimed at Modeling Efficient Aza-BODIPY NIR Dyes: Molecular and Electronic Structure, Absorption, and Emission Spectra

A comprehensive study of the molecular structure of aza-BODIPY and its derivatives, obtained by introduction of one or more substituents, was carried out. We considered the changes in the characteristics of the electronic and geometric structure of the unsubstituted aza-BODIPY introducing the following substituents into the dipyrrin core; phenyl, 2-thiophenyl, 2-furanyl, 3-pyridinyl, 4-pyridinyl, 2-pyridinyl, and ethyl groups. The ground-state geometries of the unsubstituted Aza-BODIPY and 27 derivatives were computed at the PBE/6-31G(d) and CAM-B3LYP/6-31+G(d,p) levels of theory. The time-dependent density-functional theory (TDDFT) together with FC vibronic couplings was used to investigate their absorption and emission spectra.

Photoexcited energy relaxation and vibronic couplings in π-conjugated carbon nanorings

Electronic energy relaxation takes place through specific sets of active normal modes within similar narrow ranges of middle- to high-frequencies.