HYSCORE on Photoexcited Triplet States

Abstract

HYperfine Sublevel CORrElation spectroscopy (HYSCORE) is one of the most widely applied EPR techniques for the investigation of hyperfine couplings in a wide range of spin systems; here, it is applied for the first time to a photoexcited triplet state. The analytical expressions describing the electron spin echo envelope modulations in a HYSCORE experiment on a triplet state coupled to spin ½ nuclei and spin 1 nuclei with weak nuclear quadrupole interactions were derived employing the density matrix formalism and used to determine the characteristic features of this experiment when applied to a triplet state. Experimental HYSCORE spectra recorded on the photoexcited triplet state of a meso-substituted zinc porphyrin are used to investigate the 14N hyperfine interactions in this system. The results are compared to one-dimensional three-pulse Electron Spin Echo Envelope Modulation (ESEEM) experiments and the comparison clearly shows the advantage of the HYSCORE experiment for investigation of the hyperfine couplings of a spin 1 nucleus for triplet states in disordered powder samples. The experimental HYSCORE data are discussed and interpreted in light of the properties of triplet state HYSCORE spectra identified using our theoretical approach.