Evidence of a state dependent depletion process in the two-photon fluorescence excitation spectra of saturated amines

Abstract

The two-photon fluorescence excitation (TPFE) spectra of regions of the ? states of two saturated amines 1-azabicyclo [2.2.2]octane (ABCO) and trimethylamine (TMA) are reported. These spectra are compared with the respective one-photon absorption (OPA), one-photon fluorescence excitation (OPFE), and multiphoton ionization (MPI) spectra for both molecules. For ABCO, this comparison clearly indicates major differences in both the vibronic band intensities and the amount of sequence structure present in the TPFE spectrum relative to the MPI, OPA, and OPFE spectra, which are all comparable. The ’’distortions’’ of the TPFE spectrum are interpreted in terms of a laser-induced ? state-dependent depletion process from ? which results in ionization. Pressure effects on the TPFE spectrum imply that the rate of this up-pumping process depends strongly upon the particular vibrational modes excited in the two-photon-induced ?←? transition. A further implication of this interpretation is that the intramolecular vibrational relaxation time T1 of some initially prepared levels is ?100 ps. A kinetic model is presented which illustrates how (small) variations in the ionization cross sections of the ? state can have large effects on the TPFE spectrum but not on the MPI spectrum.