Intramolecular Vibrational Excitation Research Articles

Theoretical Insights into the Vibrational Structure of Carbon Dioxide Rare-Gas Complexes.

Two new flexible-monomer two-body ab initio potential energy surfaces (PESs) for the neon and krypton van der Waals complexes with carbon dioxide were developed, extending our previous work on the Ar-CO2 molecule. The accuracy of the PESs was validated by their agreement with the vibrational spectrum of the rare-gas complexes. The intermolecular and intramolecular vibrational excitation energies were computed at the vibrational self-consistent field and vibrational configuration interaction levels of theory. Overall, the agreement between theory and experiment is excellent throughout the vibrational spectra. The observed slight splitting of the bending modes, resulting from their nondegeneracy in the complexes, is confirmed by our computations, and the results qualitatively agree with the experiment. The splitting increases with increasing polarizability of the rare-gas atom. Additionally, we explain a discrepancy in the mode assignment in the intermolecular region of the neon complex with our VCI character assignment.

Destabilization of spin-Peierls phase via a charge-spin modulated Floquet state induced by intramolecular vibrational excitation

The electronic state control using a periodic light field is one of the central subjects in photophysics. In molecular solids, intramolecular vibrations sometimes couple to intermolecular electron transfer, thus modulating electron and spin densities of each molecule. Here, we show that in a quasi-one-dimensional molecular solid K-tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ) in which TCNQ molecules are dimerized by the spin-Peierls mechanism, an intramolecular vibrational excitation with a phase-locked mid-infrared pulse induces a charge-spin modulated Floquet state, which destabilizes the spin-Peierls phase. By detecting reflectivity changes of the intramolecular transition band along the mid-infrared electric field with 6.6-fs probe pulses, we detected high-frequency oscillations reflecting electron- and spin-density modulations synchronized with intramolecular vibrations. More significantly, we observed an oscillation of ~110 cm−1 due to a dimeric mode driven by a decrease in spin-Peierls dimerization. This dimerization reduction was confirmed by measuring transient reflectivity changes of the Mott-gap transition band. These results demonstrate the effectiveness of intramolecular vibrational excitation as a method for Floquet engineering in molecular solids.

Anisotropic energy absorption from mid-infrared laser pulses in constrained water systems

The energy acquisition based on resonant excitations is of great importance in chemical and biological systems. Here, the intramolecular resonant absorption of polarized mid-infrared pulses by bulk water and surface water is investigated using molecular dynamics simulation. The consequent heating based on the OH stretching vibrations is found to be very prompt, achieving more than 100 K temperature jump under irradiation of a pulse with 1 ps width and maximum intensity of 0.5 V/nm. A general anisotropic phenomenon is manifested as a result of preferential resonant excitation of symmetric or asymmetric OH stretching vibration, depending on the relationships between the orientations of water molecules and the polarization direction of the pulse. In the case of water molecules with the preferred dipole orientation, constrained by applied static electric field or spacial confinement, parallel to the polarization direction of the pulses, the energy absorption is dominated by the symmetric OH stretching mode near 3300 cm-1, while in the perpendicular case, the asymmetric stretching mode around 3370 cm-1 is more efficient. Since oriented water molecules are prevalent in chemical and biological systems, these findings concerning direction-dependent excitation of intramolecular vibrations are of special significance to understand the energy absorption and transition in relevant biochemical processes.

Signatures of intramolecular vibrational and vibronic Q_{mathrm{x}}–Q_{mathrm{y}} coupling effects in absorption and CD spectra of chlorophyll dimers

An electron-vibrational coupling model that includes the vibronic (non-adiabatic) coupling between the Q_{mathrm{y}} and Q_{mathrm{x}} transitions of chlorophyll (Chl), created by Reimers and coworkers (Scientific Rep. 3, 2761, 2013) is extended here to chlorophyll dimers with interchlorophyll excitonic coupling. The model is applied to a Chl a dimer of the water-soluble chlorophyll binding protein (WSCP). As for isolated chlorophyll, the vibronic coupling is found to have a strong influence on the high-frequency vibrational sideband in the absorption spectrum, giving rise to a band splitting. In contrast, in the CD spectrum the interplay of vibronic coupling and static disorder leads to a strong suppression of the vibrational sideband in excellent agreement with the experimental data. The conservative nature of the CD spectrum in the low-energy region is found to be caused by a delicate balance of the intermonomer excitonic coupling between the purely electronic Q_{mathrm{y}} transition and the Q_{mathrm{y}} transition involving intramolecular vibrational excitations on one hand and the coupling to higher-energy electronic transitions on the other hand.

H2O-CO and D2O-CO complexes: Intra- and intermolecular rovibrational states from full-dimensional and fully coupled quantum calculations.

We present efficient yet rigorous, full-dimensional quantum bound-state calculations of the fully coupled J = 0 and one intra- and intermolecular rovibrational levels of H2O-CO and D2O-CO complexes. The new ab initio nine-dimensional (9D) potential energy surface (PES) [Y. Liu and J. Li, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 21, 24101 (2019)] is employed. In the spirit of the recently introduced general procedure [P. M. Felker and Z. Bačić, J. Chem. Phys. 151, 024305 (2019)], the 9D rovibrational Hamiltonian is partitioned into a 5D (rigid-monomer) intermolecular Hamiltonian, two intramolecular vibrational Hamiltonians-one for the water monomer (3D) and another for the CO monomer (1D), and a 9D remainder term. The low-energy eigenstates of the three reduced-dimension Hamiltonians are used to build up the 9D product contracted basis, in which the matrix of the full rovibrational Hamiltonian is diagonalized. In line with the findings of our earlier study referenced above, the 5D intermolecular eigenstates included in the 9D bases extend up to at most 230 cm-1 above the lowest-energy state of the given parity, much less than the intramolecular fundamentals of the two complexes that span the range of energies from about 1200 cm-1 to 3800 cm-1. The resulting Hamiltonian matrices are small for the 9D quantum problem considered, ≈ 10 000 for J = 0 and 13 500 for J = 1 calculations, allowing for direct diagonalization. The 9D calculations permit exploring a number of features of the rovibrational level structure of H2O-CO and D2O-CO that are beyond the quantum 5D rigid-monomer treatments reported to date. These include the differences in the magnitudes of the hydrogen-exchange tunneling splittings computed in 9D and 5D, the sensitivity of the tunneling splittings to the intramolecular vibrational excitation, the frequency shifts of the intramolecular vibrational modes, which, depending on the mode, can be either blue- or redshifts, and the effects of the excitation of the intramolecular fundamentals on the low-lying intermolecular eigenstates. Also examined is the extent of the eigenstate delocalization over the two minima on the PES. Whenever possible, a comparison is made with the experimental data in the literature.

Quantum yield and energy efficiency of photoinduced intramolecular charge separation.

Kinetics of photoinduced intramolecular charge separation (CS) and the ensuing ultrafast charge recombination (CR) in electron-donor-acceptor dyads are studied numerically, taking into account the excitation of charge-transfer active intramolecular vibrations and multiple relaxation time scales of the surrounding polar solvent. Both energetic and dynamic properties of intramolecular and solvent reorganization are considered, and their influence on the CS/CR kinetics and quantum yield of ultrafast CS is explored. Particular attention is paid to the energy efficiency of CS, as one of the most important parameters indicating the promise of using a molecular compound as a basis for emerging optoelectronic devices. The CS quantum yield and the energy efficiency of CS are shown to depend differently on the key model parameters. Necessary conditions for the highly efficient CS are evaluated using analytic formulae for the electron transfer rates and derived from numerical simulation data. The reasons why low-exergonic CS taking place in the Marcus normal region can be much slower than CR in the deep inverted region are discussed.

Benzene-H2O and benzene-HDO: Fully coupled nine-dimensional quantum calculations of flexible H2O/HDO intramolecular vibrational excitations and intermolecular states of the dimers, and their infrared and Raman spectra using compact bases.

We present a rigorous and comprehensive theoretical treatment of the vibrational dynamics of benzene-H2O and benzene-HDO dimers, where the quantum bound-state calculations of the coupled intra- and intermolecular vibrational states of the dimers are complemented by the quantum simulations of their infrared (IR) and Raman spectra utilizing the computed eigenstates. Apart from taking benzene to be rigid, the methodology for the nine-dimensional (9D) vibrational quantum calculations introduced in this study is fully coupled. The approach yields the intramolecular vibrational fundamentals and the bend (ν2) overtone of H2O and HDO in the complex, together with the low-lying intermolecular vibrational states in each of the intramolecular vibrational manifolds considered. Following the recently introduced general procedure [P. M. Felker and Z. Bačić, J. Chem. Phys. 151, 024305 (2019)], the full 9D vibrational Hamiltonian of the dimer is divided into a 6D intermolecular Hamiltonian, a 3D intramolecular Hamiltonian, and a 9D remainder term. A 9D contracted product basis is constructed from the low-energy eigenstates of the two reduced-dimension Hamiltonians, and the full vibrational dimer Hamiltonian is diagonalized in it. The symmetry present in the dimers is exploited to reduce the Hamiltonian matrix to a block diagonal form. Guided by the findings of our earlier study referenced above, the 6D intermolecular contracted bases for each symmetry block include only 40 eigenstates with energies up to about 225 cm-1, far below the stretch and bend fundamentals of H2O and HDO, which range between 1400 cm-1 and 3800 cm-1. As a result, the matrices representing the symmetry blocks of the 9D Hamiltonian are small for the high-dimensional quantum problem, 1360 and 1680 for the H2O and HDO complexes, respectively, allowing for direct diagonalization. These calculations characterize in detail the H2O/HDO intramolecular vibrations, their frequency shifts, and couplings to the large-amplitude-motion intermolecular vibrational sates. The computed IR spectra of the two complexes in the OH-stretch region, as well as the intermolecular Raman spectra, are compared to the experimental spectra in the literature.

Flexible water molecule in C60: Intramolecular vibrational frequencies and translation-rotation eigenstates from fully coupled nine-dimensional quantum calculations with small basis sets.

We present a method for efficient calculation of intramolecular vibrational excitations of H2O inside C60, together with the low-energy intermolecular translation-rotation states within each intramolecular vibrational manifold. Apart from assuming rigid C60, this nine-dimensional (9D) quantum treatment is fully coupled. Following the recently introduced approach [P. M. Felker and Z. Bačić, J. Chem. Phys. 151, 024305 (2019)], the full 9D vibrational Hamiltonian of H2O@C60 is partitioned into two reduced-dimension Hamiltonians, a 6D one for the intermolecular vibrations and another in 3D for the intramolecular degrees of freedom, and a 9D remainder term. The two reduced-dimension Hamiltonians are diagonalized, and their eigenvectors are used to build up a product contracted basis in which the full vibrational Hamiltonian is diagonalized. The efficiency of this methodology derives from the insight of our earlier study referenced above that converged high-energy intramolecular vibrational excitations of weakly bound molecular complexes can be obtained from fully coupled quantum calculations where the full-dimensional product contracted basis includes only a small number of intermolecular vibrational eigenstates spanning the range of energies much below those of the intramolecular vibrational states of interest. In this study, the eigenstates included in the 6D intermolecular contacted basis extend to only 410 cm-1 above the ground state, which is much less than the H2O stretch and bend fundamentals, at ≈3700 and ≈1600 cm-1, respectively. The 9D calculations predict that the fundamentals of all three intramolecular modes, as well as the bend overtone, of the caged H2O are blueshifted relative to those of the gas-phase H2O, the two stretch modes much more so than the bend. Excitation of the bend mode affects the energies of the low-lying H2O rotational states significantly more than exciting either of the stretching modes. The center-of-mass translational fundamental is virtually unaffected by the excitation of any of the intramolecular vibrational modes. Further progress hinges on the experimental measurement of the vibrational frequency shifts in H2O@C60 and ab initio calculation of a high-quality 9D potential energy surface for this endohedral complex, neither of which is presently available.

Weakly bound molecular dimers: Intramolecular vibrational fundamentals, overtones, and tunneling splittings from full-dimensional quantum calculations using compact contracted bases of intramolecular and low-energy rigid-monomer intermolecular eigenstates.

We present a method for the efficient calculation of intramolecular vibrational frequencies, and their tunneling splittings, in weakly bound molecular dimers, together with the intermolecular vibrational states within each intramolecular vibrational manifold. The approach involves the partitioning of the dimer's vibrational Hamiltonian into two reduced-dimension Hamiltonians, a rigid-monomer one for the intermolecular vibrations and the other for all intramolecular vibrational degrees of freedom, and a remainder. The eigenstates of the two reduced-dimension Hamiltonians are used to build up a product contracted basis for the diagonalization of the full vibrational Hamiltonian. The key idea is that because of weak coupling between inter- and intra-molecular vibrational modes, the full-dimensional eigenstates in the low-energy portions of the manifolds associated with the intramolecular vibrational excitations can be computed accurately in a compact basis that includes a relatively small number of rigid-monomer intermolecular eigenstates, spanning a range of energies much below those of the intramolecular vibrational states of interest. In the application to the six-dimensional (6D) problem of (HF)2, we show that this approach produces results in excellent agreement with those in the literature, with a fraction of the basis states required by other methods. In fact, accurate energies of the intramolecular vibrational fundamentals and overtones are obtained using 6D bases that include 4D rigid-monomer intermolecular vibrational eigenstates extending to only 500-1000 cm-1, far below the HF-stretch fundamental of about 4000 cm-1. The method thus holds particular promise with respect to calculations on complexes with greater numbers of vibrational degrees of freedom.

Pressure tuning of light-induced superconductivity in K3C60.

Optical excitation at terahertz frequencies has emerged as an effective means to dynamically manipulate complex materials. In the molecular solid K3C60, short mid-infrared pulses transform the high-temperature metal into a non-equilibrium state with the optical properties of a superconductor. Here we tune this effect with hydrostatic pressure and find that the superconducting-like features gradually disappear at around 0.3 GPa. Reduction with pressure underscores the similarity with the equilibrium superconducting phase of K3C60, in which a larger electronic bandwidth induced by pressure is also detrimental for pairing. Crucially, our observation excludes alternative interpretations based on a high-mobility metallic phase. The pressure dependence also suggests that transient, incipient superconductivity occurs far above the 150 K hypothesised previously, and rather extends all the way to room temperature.

Ultrafast Coherent Control of Condensed Matter with Attosecond Precision.

Coherent control is a technique to manipulate wave functions of matter with light. Coherent control of isolated atoms and molecules in the gas phase is well-understood and developed since the 1990s, whereas its application to condensed matter is more difficult because its coherence lifetime is shorter. We have recently applied this technique to condensed matter samples, one of which is solid para-hydrogen ( p-H2). Intramolecular vibrational excitation of solid p-H2 gives an excited vibrational wave function called a "vibron", which is delocalized over many hydrogen molecules in a manner similar to a Frenkel exciton. It has a long coherence lifetime, so we have chosen solid p-H2 as our first target in the condensed phase. We shine a time-delayed pair of femtosecond laser pulses on p-H2 to generate vibrons. Their interference results in modulation of the amplitude of their superposition. Scanning the interpulse delay on the attosecond time scale gives a high interferometric contrast, which demonstrates the possibility of using solid p-H2 as a carrier of information encoded in the vibrons. In the second example, we have controlled the terahertz collective phonon motion, called a "coherent phonon", of a single crystal of bismuth. We employ an intensity-modulated laser pulse, whose temporal envelope is modulated with terahertz frequency by overlap of two positively chirped laser pulses with their adjustable time delay. This modulated laser pulse is shined on the bismuth crystal to excite its two orthogonal phonon modes. Their relative amplitudes are controlled by tuning the delay between the two chirped pulses on the attosecond time scale. Two-dimensional atomic motion in the crystal is thus controlled arbitrarily. The method is based on the simple, robust, and universal concept that in any physical system, two-dimensional particle motion is decomposed into two orthogonal one-dimensional motions, and thus, it is applicable to a variety of condensed matter systems. In the third example, the double-pulse interferometry used for solid p-H2 has been applied to many-body electronic wave functions of an ensemble of ultracold rubidium Rydberg atoms, hereafter called a "strongly correlated ultracold Rydberg gas". This has allowed the observation and control of many-body electron dynamics of more than 40 Rydberg atoms interacting with each other. This new combination of ultrafast coherent control and ultracold atoms offers a versatile platform to precisely observe and manipulate nonequilibrium dynamics of quantum many-body systems on the ultrashort time scale. These three examples are digested in this Account.

On the vibron-polaron damping in quasi 1D macromolecular chains

The properties of the intramolecular vibrational excitation (vibron) in a quasi 1D macromolecular structure are studied. It is supposed that due to the vibron interaction with optical phonon modes, a vibron might form partially dressed small polaron states. The properties of these states are investigated in dependence on the basic system parameters and temperature of a thermal bath. We also investigate the process of damping of the polaron amplitude as a function of temperature and vibron-phonon coupling strength. Two different regimes of the polaron damping are found and discussed.

New Infrared Bands of the C-Bonded Isomer of OC-N2O and Determination of Two Intermolecular Frequencies.

Three combination bands involving intermolecular modes of the most stable isomer of the OC-N2O van der Waals complex have been observed, two in the carbon monoxide CO stretch region (∼2150 cm-1) and one in the ν3 asymmetric stretch region of N2O (∼2223 cm-1). Vibrational assignment is achieved by comparison with data recently published ( Barclay , A. ; et al. Chem. Phys. Lett. 2016 , 62 , 651 ), concerning OC-CO2. Two of these bands involve the same intermolecular mode, one with the CO stretch and the other with the ν3 asymmetric stretch of N2O. The values of intermolecular frequency deduced from these two bands agree very well, showing no significant dependence on intramolecular vibrational excitation.

Effect of Intramolecular High-Frequency Vibrational Mode Excitation on Ultrafast Photoinduced Charge Transfer and Charge Recombination Kinetics.

A model of photoinduced ultrafast charge separation and ensuing charge recombination into the ground state has been developed. The model includes explicit description of the formation and evolution of nonequilibrium state of both the intramolecular vibrations and the surrounding medium. An effect of the high-frequency intramolecular vibrational mode excitation by a pumping pulse on ultrafast charge separation and charge recombination kinetics has been investigated. Simulations, in accord with experiment, have shown that the effect may be both positive (the vibrational mode excitation increases the charge-transfer rate constant) and negative (opposite trend). The effect on charge separation kinetics is predicted to be bigger than that on the charge recombination rate but nevertheless the last is large enough to be observable. The amplitude of both effects falls with decreasing vibrational relaxation time constant, but the effects are expected to be observable up to the time constants as short as 200 fs. Physical interpretation of the effects has been presented. Comparisons with the experimental data have shown that the simulations, in whole, provide results close to that obtained in the experiment. The reasons of the deviations have been discussed.

On the vibron nature in the system of two parallel macromolecular chains: The influence of interchain coupling

We studied the properties of the intramolecular vibrational excitation (vibron) at finite temperature in a system which consists of two parallel macromolecular chains. It was assumed that vibron interacts exclusively with dispersionless optical phonons and the whole system is considered to be in thermal equilibrium. Particular attention has been paid to the examination of the impact of the temperature and strength of the interchain coupling on the small polaron crossover. For that purpose we employed partial dressing method which enables the study of the degree of the phonon dressing of the vibron excitations in a wide area of system parameter space. We found that in the non-adiabatic regime the degree of dressing as a function of coupling constant continuously increases reflecting the smooth transition of the slightly dressed, practically free vibron, to a heavily dressed one: small polaron. As “adiabaticity” rises this transition becomes increasingly steeper, and finally, in the adiabatic limit, a discontinuous “jump” of the degree of dressing is observed. The interchain coupling manifests itself through the increase of the effective adiabatic parameter of the system.

On the mechanism of vibrational control of light-induced charge transfer in donor-bridge-acceptor assemblies.

Nuclear-electronic (vibronic) coupling is increasingly recognized as a mechanism of major importance in controlling the light-induced function of molecular systems. It was recently shown that infrared light excitation of intramolecular vibrations can radically change the efficiency of electron transfer, a fundamental chemical process. We now extend and generalize the understanding of this phenomenon by probing and perturbing vibronic coupling in several molecules in solution. In the experiments an ultrafast electronic-vibrational pulse sequence is applied to a range of donor-bridge-acceptor Pt(II) trans-acetylide assemblies, for which infrared excitation of selected bridge vibrations during ultraviolet-initiated charge separation alters the yields of light-induced product states. The experiments, augmented by quantum chemical calculations, reveal a complex combination of vibronic mechanisms responsible for the observed changes in electron transfer rates and pathways. The study raises new fundamental questions about the function of vibrational processes immediately following charge transfer photoexcitation, and highlights the molecular features necessary for external vibronic control of excited-state processes.

Coherent chemistry with THz pulses: Ultrafast field-driven isomerization of LiNC

The ability to coherently rearrange structures at the atomic scale is among the grand challenges of physical science. Some of the primary obstacles are nonadiabatic increases in energy, such as intramolecular vibrational relaxation (IVR) and electronic excitations. Motivated by recent advances in strong terahertz (THz) pulse generation, we investigate the potential of THz to circumvent these obstacles. Employing TDDFT-Ehrenfest simulations, we discover that strong THz pulses can drive isomerization of the LiNC molecule over barriers greater than 0.2 eV with very low ionization rates and, in the best case, less than 3 meV of residual excess energy. This work points to new possibilities in predictively manipulating chemical bonds in molecules and materials.

Effect of Excitation Pulse Carrier Frequency on Ultrafast Photoinduced Charge Transfer Kinetics: Effect of Intramolecular High Frequency Vibrational Mode Excitation

Influence of excitation pulse carrier frequency on photoinduced ultrafast intramolecular charge transfer kinetics is investigated in the framework of a multichannel stochastic point transition model involving an excited state formation. It is supposed that an intramolecular high frequency vibrational mode being active at the excitation stage also accepts the energy at the stage of photoinduced charge transfer. A strong dependence of the photoinduced charge transfer rate constant on excitation pulse carrier frequency is uncovered. Since this dependence is associated with charge separation from different excited states of an intramolecular high frequency vibrational mode, it is named the vibrational spectral effect. The simulations show that the effect may be both positive (the photoinduced charge transfer rate constant increases with increasing the excitation pulse carrier frequency) and negative (opposite trend). In the area of low exergonicity of the photoinduced charge transfer, the effect is mostly positive, while in the field of strong exergonicity, it is mostly negative. The amplitude of the vibrational spectral effect predicted by the model is rather large and can be observed in experiments even if the vibrational relaxation/redistribution time constant is as short as 100 fs.

Ethanolamine: conformational diversity

Nonempirical stationary calculations in combination with Born–Oppenheimer molecular dynamics simulations, both carried out at the MP2/6-31++G(d,p) level, shed light on the relative probability of either stationary or temperature-dependent dynamic formation of different isomers of monoethanolamine molecule. Thermal excitation of certain intramolecular vibrations substantially affects the origination and lifetimes of isomers, which cannot be predicted on the basis of time-independent calculations solely. Trans and gauche orientations of amino and hydroxyl groups are interdependent to a certain degree, and with an increase in temperature and duration of evolution, the formation of N–H…O hydrogen bond becomes progressively more likely, despite the energetic preferability of O–H…N bond.

Processes and time-scales of energy loss of low-energy electrons (

The various processes responsible for the energy degradation and eventual thermalization of low-energy subexcitation electrons (<5eV) in liquid water are completely delineated for the first time, while previous work assumed the formation of thermalized electrons in the 10−11–10−12s for liquid water at room temperature. Chief among these are intramolecular vibrational and rotational excitation, dielectric interaction and excitation of intermolecular vibration through H-bond stretching and bending. Cross-sections for these processes are taken from experiments or derived theoretically. Individual time scales are obtained for subexcitational and subvibrational regimes in water at room and higher temperature.