Femtosecond Transient Hole-Burning Detection of Interexciton-State Radiationless Decay in Allophycocyanin Trimers

Abstract

In its trimeric aggregation state, the phycobiliprotein allophycocyanin contains the simplest possible system, an isolated pair of chromophores, in which delocalized excited states can be studied. By moving the pump wavelength across allophycocyanin's ground-state absorption band, we have obtained femtosecond time-resolved pump−probe spectra that evidence interexciton-state radiationless decay from the upper exciton state and vibrational relaxation in the lower exciton state. Direct evidence for interexciton-state radiationless decay is taken from the initial appearance of photobleaching/stimulated-emission holes displaced to the red with respect to the pump-pulse spectrum. The holes broaden on the 120-fs time scale owing to intramolecular vibrational redistribution and transient solvation and shift to the red on the 230-fs time scale owing to vibrational equilibration and transient solvation. We show that vibrational relaxation in the lower exciton state contributes to the decay of a shoulder in the 590−...