@phdthesis{Schleier2021,
  author    = {Schleier, Domenik},
  title     = {Using Photoionization to Investigate Reactive Boron Species and the Kinetics of Hydrocarbon Radicals},
  doi       = {10.25972/OPUS-24213},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-242137},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2021},
  abstract  = {This thesis highlights the importance of isomer-selective approaches for the complete analysis of chemical processes. The method of choice is photoelectron/photoion coincidence spectroscopy, which allows simultaneous detection of electrons and ions coming from a single ionization event. Ionization techniques are sensitive and can record multiple species simultaneously, rendering them ideal tools to probe molecular transformations. Coupling these setups to synchrotron radiation allows one to analyze complex mixtures with isomer selectivity, based on ionization energies and vibrational structure in the cation, without any prior separation steps. Only few setups exist that can be used to gather these data, although their impact and applicability is growing steadily in various fields. For closed-shell species an easier and more widely used method is gas-chromatography, but most open shell species would not survive the separation process. Due to the reactivity of radicals they have to be created by selectively converting stable precursor molecules. Depending on the radical generation method different properties can be investigated ranging from thermodynamic data, over concentrations in high temperature environments, to chemical kinetics. The first part of this thesis deals with the determination of bimolecular rate constants. Isomeric hydrocarbon radicals were generated by a high intense UV light pulses and their kinetics with oxygen was measured. The pressure dependence of different isomers in the falloff region was compared to theoretical models, and their reactivity could be explained. The second part deals with boron containing compounds in various electronic situations. The corresponding precursors were successfully synthesized or could be bought. They were subjected to fluorine atoms in chemical reactors or destroyed pyrolytically at high temperatures. Most investigated species exhibited vibronic effects that could be elucidated using high level computations.},
  subject      = {Biradikal},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Hochrein2018,
  author    = {Hochrein, Thomas},
  title     = {Terahertz-Spektroskopie: Systementwicklung und Einsatz in der Polymeranalytik},
  edition   = {1. Auflage},
  publisher = {W{\"u}rzburg University Press},
  address   = {W{\"u}rzburg},
  isbn      = {978-3-95826-090-0 (Print)},
  doi       = {10.25972/WUP-978-3-95826-091-7},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-163473},
  school      = {W{\"u}rzburg University Press},
  pages     = {xi, 194},
  year      = {2018},
  abstract  = {Die zeitaufgel{\"o}ste Terahertz-Spektroskopie erzielte in den letzten 20 Jahren erhebliche Entwicklungsfortschritte. Aber auch davor haben bereits Untersuchungen der dielektrischen Eigenschaften in diesem Spektralbereich mit herk{\"o}mmlichen Spektrometern unter anderen Termini stattgefunden. Viele Anwendungsfelder der Terahertz-Zeitbereichsspektroskopie sind noch unzureichend erforscht, weshalb in dieser Arbeit der Einsatz in der Polymeranalytik und prim{\"a}r an Polyamiden n{\"a}her untersucht wird. Außerdem weist die Terahertz-Systemtechnik f{\"u}r koh{\"a}rente Messungen noch erhebliche Verbesserungspotenziale auf. Im Rahmen dieser Arbeit wurde daher das neue Verfahren Optical Sampling by Laser Cavity Tuning (OSCAT) entwickelt. Es erm{\"o}glicht auf elegante Weise eine variable Zeitverz{\"o}gerung von Pulsfolgen, wie sie in Terahertz-Zeitbereichsspektrometern erforderlich ist. Dabei wird die M{\"o}glichkeit ver{\"a}nderbarer Repetitionsrate bei Ultrakurzpulslasern genutzt. Die Vorteile des OSCAT-Verfahrens, wie z. B. Skalierbarkeit, Robustheit, großer Messbereich und Messgeschwindigkeit, sowie die Funktion werden in dieser Arbeit sowohl theoretisch als auch experimentell vorgestellt und diskutiert. Erste Terahertz-Messungen an polymeren Schmelzen demonstrieren potenzielle Anwendungsgebiete f{\"u}r Terahertz-Spektrometer. Der Rezepturanteil und Zerst{\"o}rungsgrad eingebrachter F{\"u}llstoffe kann sehr gut {\"u}ber den Brechungsindex bestimmt werden. Die Ergebnisse zeigen außerdem ein stark temperaturabh{\"a}ngiges Verhalten polarer und unpolarer Polymere. Neben der Auswirkung der temperaturinduzierten Dichte{\"a}nderung auf den Brechungsindex konnte insbesondere bei Polyamiden ein starker Anstieg der Absorption mit zunehmender Temperatur nachgewiesen werden. Deshalb wurden die Absolutwerte des Brechungsindex und Absorptionskoeffizienten im niederfrequenten Terahertz-Spektralbereich tiefergehend untersucht. Es zeigte sich, dass der Brechungsindex polarer Polymere aus einem polaren und unpolaren Anteil besteht. Der unpolare Anteil wird prim{\"a}r durch die Material- bzw. Amidgruppendichte bestimmt. Der polare Anteil wird durch das inter- und intramolekulare Schwingungsverhalten bzw. dessen resultierenden Absorptionsbanden beeinflusst. Diese Schwingungsmoden wurden daher mittels breitbandiger Spektroskopie in abgeschw{\"a}chter Totalreflexion (ATR) an unterschiedlichen Polyamiden aufgenommen. Simulationsrechnungen mit Lorentz-Oszillatoren zeigen, wie bedeutsam eine kritische Diskussion absoluter Absorptionswerte aus solchen ATR-Messungen ist. Die ermittelten Ursachen sind {\"A}nderungen des Brechungsindex der Probe infolge von Temperatur{\"a}nderung sowie Dispersion durch Schwingungsmoden - auch weit abseits des Bandenmaximums. Die gemessenen Schwingungsmoden wurden anhand quantenmechanischer ab-inito Berechnungen der Molek{\"u}lketten und -cluster analysiert und mit Literaturangaben abgeglichen. Verschiedene Schwingungen konnten hierbei im Terahertz-Spektralbereich bei unterschiedlichen {\alpha}- und {\gamma}-Polyamiden ausgemacht werden. Sie erweisen sich als sehr komplex und erstrecken sich meist {\"u}ber die gesamte Molek{\"u}lkette. Schwingungen einzelner Atome oder Gruppen sind meist mit umfangreichen Ausgleichsbewegungen des Molek{\"u}lr{\"u}ckgrats gekoppelt. Insbesondere phononenartige Schwingungen konnten hierbei im Vergleich zu bisherigen Publikationen sehr pr{\"a}zise beschrieben werden.},
  subject      = {FIR-Spektroskopie},
  language  = {de}
}
@phdthesis{Gorenflot2014,
  author    = {Gorenflot, Julien Fran{\c{c}}ois},
  title     = {Optical study of the excited states in the semiconducting polymer poly(3-hexylthiophene) for photovoltaic applications},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-116730},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2014},
  abstract  = {In the course of this dissertation, we have presented the interest of using spectroscopic methods to unravel the physics of polymer semiconductors in photovoltaic applications. Applying photoluminescence and photoinduced absorption spectroscopy to the reference system P3HT:PCBM has enabled us to study the major steps of photocurrent generation in organic bulk heterojunctions, from excitons generation to charges extraction and loss mechanisms and thus to improve the understanding of those mechanisms. The exciton binding energy, is the first obstacle to overcome for photocurrent generation in organic solar cell and the reason for the use of two materials, whose heterojunction act as a driving force for charge separation. We developed an original photoluminescence-detected field-induced exciton quenching method to investigate this energy. Absorption and photoluminescence spectra of pure P3HT show that, while both amorphous and crystalline domains participate in absorption, the energy is then transferred to the crystalline domains, from where the photoluminescence is exclusively originating. The field dependence of this photoluminescence showed that an energy of no less than 420 meV is necessary to split excitons into non photon-emitting species. Comparing those results with energy levels obtained by absorption and photoelectron spectroscopies, confirmed that the formation of those species is only a first step toward dissociation into free charges. Indeed, photoemission spectroscopy and the onset of photocurrent upon increasing the photon energy in a pure P3HT solar cell, concomitantly show that the energy level of a pair of free polarons is located 0.7 eV above the one of the exciton. The comprehensive analysis of those results originating from those different method enable us to draw a global picture of the states and energies involved in free polarons generation in pure material. This work has been widely acknowledged by the scientific community, published in Physical Review B in 2010 [1] and presented in national [2] and international [3] conferences. The spectroscopy of excited states is used to detect the presence of wanted species (charges) and potentially unwanted neutral species upon photoexcitation. As such, it offers us the possibility to qualify the efficiency of charge generation and, if any, identify the competing processes and the generation of unwanted species. In the frame of the European Marie Curie Research Network SolarNType,[4] this possibility was used - in combination with morphological, charge transport and devices characterizationsn - to study a number of new donor:acceptor blends. Thanks to those techniques, we were able to not only quantify the potential of those blends, but also to provide the chemist laboratories with a precious and detailed feedback on the strengths and weakness of the molecules, regarding charge generation, transport and extraction. The detailed study of terrylene-3,4:11,12-bis(dicarboximide) as electron acceptor for solar cells application was published in the peer review journal Synthetic Metals and was chosen to illustrate the cover page of the issue [5]. Finally, in the last chapter, we have used time resolved photoinduced absorption to improve the understanding of the charge carrier loss mechanisms in P3HT:PCBM active layers. This comprehension is of prime importance because, the fact that this recombination is far weaker than expected from the Langevin theory, enable polarons to travel further without recombining and thus to build thicker and more efficient devices. A comprehensive analysis of steady-state PIA spectra of pure P3HT, indicates that probing at 980 nm at a temperature between 140 and 250 K enables to monitor specifically polaron densities in both neat P3HT and P3HT:PCBM. Applying this finding to transient absorption enabled us to monitor, for the first time, the bimolecular recombination in pure P3HT, and to discover that - in sharp contrast with the blend - this recombination was in agreement with the Langevin theory. Moreover, it enables us to pinpoint the important role played by the existence of two materials and of energetical traps in the slow recombination and high recombination orders observed in the blend. This work has been published in the Journal of Applied Physics.[6] Those new insights in the photophysics of polymer:fullerene photoactive layers could have a strong impact on the future developement of those materials. Consistent measurements of the binding energy of excitons and intermediate species, would enable to clarify the role played by excess thermal energy in interfacial states dissociation. Better understanding of blends morphology and its influence on solar cells parameters and in particular on recombination could enable to reproduce the conditions of limited recombination on material systems offering some promising performances but with only limited active layer thicknesses. However, due to the number of parameters involved, further experimentation is required, before we can reach a quantitative modeling of bimolecular recombination. [1] Deibel et al., Phys. Rev. B, 81:085202, 2010 [2] Gorenflot et al., Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft Fr{\"u}hjahrstagung 2010, CPP20:10, Regensburg, Germany, 2010 [3] Gorenflot et al., International Conference of Synthetic Metals, 7Ax:05, Kyoto, Japan, 2010 [4] Marie-Curie RTN "SolarNTyp" Contract No. MRTN-CT-2006-035533 [5] Gorenflot et al., Synth. Met., 161(23{24):2669-2676, 2012 [6] Gorenflot et al., J. Appl. Phys., 115(14):144502, 2014},
  subject      = {Organische Solarzelle},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Siebert2002,
  author    = {Siebert, Torsten Uwe},
  title     = {Four-Wave Mixing Techniques Applied to the Investigation of Non-Adiabatic Dynamics in Polyatomic Molecules},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-2456},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2002},
  abstract  = {In the experiments presented in this work, third-order, time-resolved spectroscopy was applied to the disentanglement of nuclear and electronic degrees of freedom in polyatomic molecules. The motivation for approaching this problem was given by the decisive role that the coupling of nuclear and electronic dynamics plays in the mechanism of photochemical reactions and photobiological processes. In order to approach this complex problem, different strategies within the framework of time-resolved, four-wave mixing spectroscopy were developed that allowed for the dynamic as well as the energetic aspects of vibronic coupling in non-radiative transitions of polyatomic molecules to be addressed. This was achieved by utilizing the influence of optical as well as Raman resonances on four-wave mixing processes. These resonance effects on third-order, optical processes allow for a high selectivity to be attained with respect to the interrogation of specific aspects of molecular dynamics. The development of different strategies within the framework of time-resolved, four-wave mixing spectroscopy for addressing the problem of vibronic coupling began with the experiments on gaseous iodine. This simple, well investigated molecular system was chosen in order to unambiguously characterize the effect of Raman resonances on four-wave mixing processes. A time-resolved degenerative four-wave mixing (DFWM) experiment was carried out on gaseous iodine that allowed for the dynamics of coherent Stokes Raman scattering (CSRS) as well as a coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) to be observed parallel to the dynamics of a DFWM process at different spectral positions of the FWM signal. Here, the state-selectivity of these different FWM processes manifests itself in the vibrational wave packet dynamics on different electronic potentials of iodine. It could be shown that Raman resonances determine the selectivity with which these FWM processes prepare and interrogate nuclear dynamics in different electronic states. With the insight gained into the relevance of Raman resonant processes in FWM spectroscopy, an experimental scheme was devised that utilizes this effect to selectively interrogate the dynamics of a specific vibrational mode within a polyatomic molecule during a radiationless electronic transition. Here, a CARS process was employed to selectively probe specific vibrational modes of a molecular system by variably tuning the energy difference between the lasers involved in the CARS process to be in Raman resonance with the vibrational energy spacing of a particular vibrational mode. Using this aspect of a tunable resonance enhancement within a CARS scheme, this optical process was incorporated in a time-resolved pump-probe experiment as a mode-selective probe mechanism. This type of experimental configuration, that employs four pulsed laser fields, was classified as a pump-CARS scheme. Here, a laser pulse independent of the CARS process initiates the molecular dynamics that are interrogated selectively with respect to the vibrational mode of the system through the simultaneous interaction of the three pulsed fields involved in the CARS process. Time-resolution on a femtosecond timescale is achieved by introducing a time delay between the independent pump laser and the laser pulses of the CARS process. The experimental configuration of a pump-CARS scheme was applied to the study of the nuclear dynamics involved in the radiationless electronic transition between the first excited singlet state (S1) and the electronic ground state (S0) of all-trans-b-carotene. The mode-selective CARS probe allowed for the characteristic timescale with which specific vibrational modes are repopulated in the S0 state to be determined. From the varying repopulation times of specific vibrational modes, a mechanism with which the full set of vibrational states of the S0 potential are repopulated subsequent to the internal conversion process could be postulated. Most importantly, the form of nuclear motion that primarily funnels the population between the two electronic states could be identified as the C=C symmetric symmetric stretch mode in the polyene backbone of b-carotene. With this, the reaction coordinate of this radiationless electronic transition could be identified. The experiment shows, that the CARS probe is capable of determining the nuclear motion coupled to a radiationless electronic transition in complex polyatomic systems. The S1/S0 internal conversion process in b-carotene was further investigated with time-resolved transient gratings. Here, the energetic aspects of a non-adiabatic transition was addressed by determining the influence of the vibrational energy on the rate of this internal conversion. In order to compare the rate of internal conversion taking place out of vibrational ground state modes versus this transition initiating out of vibrationally hot modes, the strategy of shifting the probe mechanism in the transient grating scheme to spectral positions within and out of the red flank of the S1 absorption profile was pursued. The interrogation of different vibrational states was verified by determining the degree of vibrational cooling, taking place parallel to the internal conversion process. With this strategy, it could be shown that vibrationally hot states contribute to the internal conversion with a higher rate than vibrational ground state modes. In summary, different third-order, optical processes in the framework of time-resolved FWM were applied to the study of non-adiabatic dynamics in polyatomic molecules. By utilizing the effect of optical as well as Raman resonances on different FWM processes, it could be shown that third-order, time-resolved spectroscopy is a powerful tool for gaining insight into complex molecular dynamics such as vibronic coupling. The experiments presented in this work showed that the CARS process, as a mode-selective probe in time-resolved experiments, is capable of disentangling nuclear and electronic dynamics.},
  subject      = {Provitamin A},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Michail2021,
  author    = {Michail, Evripidis},
  title     = {Design and Development of a Two-Photon Absorption Induced Fluorescence Spectrometer and the Investigation of Nonlinear Optical Properties of Organic Chromophores},
  doi       = {10.25972/OPUS-24218},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-242185},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2021},
  abstract  = {Main objectives of the present dissertation can be divided in two parts. The first part deals with setting up a spectroscopic technique for reliable and accurate measurements of the two-photon absorption (2PA) cross section spectra. In the second part, this firmly established experimental technique together with conventional spectroscopic characterization, quantum-chemical computations and theoretical modelling calculations was combined and therefore used as a tool to gain information for the so-called structure-property relationship through several molecular compounds.},
  subject      = {Nonlinear Optical Properties of Organic Materials},
  language  = {en}
}