Phase-matching and dilution effects in two-dimensional femtosecond stimulated Raman spectroscopy.

We present theoretical and experimental data for the attenuation of the cascade signal in two-dimensional femtosecond stimulated Raman spectroscopy (2D-FSRS). In previous studies, the cascade signal, caused by two third-order interactions, was found to overwhelm the desired fifth-order signal that would measure vibrational anharmonic coupling. Theoretically, it is found that changing the phase-matching conditions and sample concentration would attenuate the cascade signal, while only slightly decreasing the fifth-order signal. By increasing the crossing angle between the Raman pump and probe and the impulsive pump and probe, the phase-matching efficiency of the cascade signal is significantly attenuated, while the fifth-order efficiency remains constant. The dilution experiments take advantage of the difference in the concentration dependence for the fifth-order and cascade signal, in which the fifth-order signal is proportional to concentration and the cascade signal is proportional to concentration squared. Experimentally, it is difficult to see a trend in the data due to instability in signal in the phase-matching experiments and lack of signal at low concentrations in the dilution experiments.

Sensitizing the sensitizer: the synthesis and photophysical study of bodipy-Pt(II)(diimine)(dithiolate) conjugates.

The dyads 3, 4, and 6, combining the Bodipy chromophore with a Pt(bpy)(bdt) (bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine, bdt = 1,2-benzenedithiolate, 3 and 6) or a Pt(bpy)(mnt) (mnt = maleonitriledithiolate, 4) moiety, have been synthesized and studied by UV-vis steady-state absorption, transient absorption, and emission spectroscopies and cyclic voltammetry. Comparison of the absorption spectra and cyclic voltammograms of dyads 3, 4, and 6 and those of their model compounds 1a, 2, 5, and 7 shows that the spectroscopic and electrochemical properties of the dyads are essentially the sum of their constituent chromophores, indicating negligible interaction of the constituent chromophores in the ground state. However, emission studies on 3 and 6 show a complete absence of both Bodipy-based fluorescence and the characteristic luminescence of the Pt(bpy)(bdt) unit. Dyad 4 shows a weak Pt(mnt)-based emission. Transient absorption studies show that excitation of the dyads into the Bodipy-based (1)ππ* excited state is followed by singlet energy transfer (SEnT) to the Pt(dithiolate)-based (1)MMLL'CT (mixed metal-ligand to ligand charge transfer) excited state (τ(SEnT)(3) = 0.6 ps, τ(SEnT)(4) = 0.5 ps, and τ(SEnT)(6) = 1.6 ps), which undergoes rapid intersystem crossing to the (3)MMLL'CT state due to the heavy Pt(II) ion. The (3)MMLL'CT state is then depopulated by triplet energy transfer (TEnT) to the low-lying Bodipy-based (3)ππ* excited state (τ(SEnT)(3) = 8.2 ps, τ(SEnT)(4) = 5 ps, and τ(SEnT)(6) = 160 ps). The transition assignments are supported by TD-DFT calculations. Both energy-transfer processes are shown to proceed via a Dexter electron exchange mechanism. The much longer time constants for dyad 6 relative to 3 are attributed to the significantly poorer coupling and resonance of charge-separated species that are intermediates in the electron exchange process.

Two-dimensional femtosecond stimulated Raman spectroscopy: Observation of cascading Raman signals in acetonitrile.

A new methodology for two-dimensional Raman spectroscopy-termed two-dimensional femtosecond stimulated Raman spectroscopy (2D-FSRS)-is presented and experimental results for acetonitrile are discussed. 2D-FSRS can potentially observe molecular anharmonicity by measuring the modulation of the frequency of a probed Raman mode, at frequency omega(hi), by the coherent motion of an impulsively driven mode, at frequency omega(low). In acetonitrile, the signal is generated by driving the CCN bend (379 cm(-1)) and CC stretch (920 cm(-1)) into coherence via impulsive stimulated Raman scattering and subsequently probing the stimulated Raman spectrum of the CC stretch, the CN stretch (2250 cm(-1)) and the CH stretch (2942 cm(-1)). The resultant signal can be generated by two alternative mechanisms: a fifth-order Raman process that would directly probe anharmonic coupling between the two modes, or a third-order cascade in which a third-order coherent Raman process produces a field that goes on to participate in a third-order stimulated Raman transition. The third-order cascade is shown to dominate the 2D-FSRS spectrum as determined by comparison with the predicted magnitude of the two signals, the 2D spectrum of a mixed isotope experiment, and the concentration dependence of the signal. In acetonitrile, theoretical calculations of the vibrational anharmonicity indicate that the third-order cascade signal should be 10(4) times larger than the fifth-order Raman signal. 2D-FSRS signals are observed between acetonitrile's CCN bend, of E symmetry, and several different A(1) modes but are forbidden by symmetry in the fifth-order pathway. A 2D-FSRS spectrum of a 50:50 mixture of acetonitrile and d(3)-acetonitrile shows equivalent intensity for intramolecular coupling peaks and intermolecular coupling peaks, indicating that the observed signal cannot be probing molecular anharmonicity. Finally, the magnitudes of the 2D-FSRS peaks are observed to be proportional to the square of the number density, supporting the cascade mechanism.

Theoretical analysis of anharmonic coupling and cascading Raman signals observed with femtosecond stimulated Raman spectroscopy.

We present a classical theoretical treatment of a two-dimensional Raman spectroscopy based on the initiation of vibrational coherence with an impulsive Raman pump and subsequent probing by two-pulse femtosecond stimulated Raman spectroscopy (FSRS). The classical model offers an intuitive picture of the molecular dynamics initiated by each laser pulse and the generation of the signal field traveling along the probe wave vector. Previous reports have assigned the observed FSRS signals to anharmonic coupling between the impulsively driven vibration and the higher-frequency vibration observed with FSRS. However, we show that the observed signals are not due to anharmonic coupling, which is shown to be a fifth-order coherent Raman process, but instead due to cascades of coherent Raman signals. Specifically, the observed vibrational sidebands are generated by parallel cascades in which a coherent anti-Stokes or Stokes Raman spectroscopy (i.e., CARS or CSRS) field generated by the coherent coupling of the impulsive pump and the Raman pump pulses participates in a third-order FSRS transition. Additional sequential cascades are discussed that will give rise to cascade artifacts at the fundamental FSRS frequencies. It is shown that the intended fifth-order FSRS signals, generated by an anharmonic coupling mechanism, will produce signals of approximately 10(-4) DeltaOD (change in the optical density). The cascading signals, however, will produce stimulated Raman signal of approximately 10(-2) DeltaOD, as has been observed experimentally. Experiments probing deuterochloroform find significant sidebands of the CCl(3) bend, which has an E type symmetry, shifted from the A(1) type C-D and C-Cl stretching modes, despite the fact that third-order anharmonic coupling between these modes is forbidden by symmetry. Experiments probing a 50:50 mixture of chloroform and d-chloroform find equivalent intensity signals of low-frequency CDCl(3) modes as sidebands shifted from both the C-D stretch of CDCl(3) and the C-H stretch of CHCl(3). Such intermolecular sidebands are allowed in the cascade mechanism, but are expected to be extremely small in the fifth-order frequency modulation mechanism. Each of these observations indicates that the observed signals are due to cascading third-order Raman signals.