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100-kHz shot-to-shot broadband data acquisition for high-repetition-rate pump–probe spectroscopy
(2014)
Shot-to-shot broadband detection is common in ultrafast pump–probe spectroscopy. Taking advantage of the intensity correlation of subsequent laser pulses improves the signal-to-noise ratio. Finite data readout times of CCD chips in the employed spectrometer and the maximum available speed of mechanical pump-beam choppers typically limit this approach to lasers with repetition rates of a few kHz. For high-repetition (≥ 100 kHz) systems, one typically averages over a larger number of laser shots leading to inferior signal-to-noise ratios or longer measurement times. Here we demonstrate broadband shot-to-shot detection in transient absorption spectroscopy with a 100-kHz femtosecond laser system. This is made possible using a home-built high-speed chopper with external laser synchronization and a fast CCD line camera. Shot-to-shot detection can reduce the data acquisition time by two orders of magnitude compared to few-kHz lasers while keeping the same signal-to-noise ratio.
A comparative study is carried out on two spectroscopic techniques employed to detect ultrafast absorption changes in the mid-infrared spectral range, namely direct multichannel detection via HgCdTe (MCT) photodiode arrays and the newly established technique of chirped-pulse upconversion (CPU). Whereas both methods are meanwhile individually used in a routine manner, we directly juxtapose their applicability in femtosecond pump-probe experiments based on 1 kHz shot-to-shot data acquisition. Additionally, we examine different phase-matching conditions in the CPU scheme for a given mid-infrared spectrum, thereby simultaneously detecting signals which are separated by more than 200 cm−1.
Time-resolved optical spectroscopy has become an important tool to investigate the dynamics of quantum mechanical processes in matter. In typical applications, a first “pump” pulse excites the system under investigation from the thermal equilibrium to an excited state, and a second variable time-delayed “probe” pulse then maps the dynamics of the excited system. Although advanced nonlinear techniques have been developed to investigate, e.g., coherent quantum effects, all of these techniques are limited in their spatial resolution. The laser focus diameter has a lower bound given by Abbe’s diffraction limit, which is roughly half the optical excitation wavelength—corresponding to about 400nm in the presented experiments. In the time-resolved experiments that have been suggested so far, averaging over the sample volume within this focus cannot be avoided. In this thesis, two approaches were developed to overcome the diffraction limit in optical spectroscopy and to enable the investigation of coherent processes on the nanoscale. In the first approach, analytic solutions were found to calculate optimal polarizationshaped laser pulses that provide optical near-field pump–probe pulse sequences in the vicinity of a nanostructure. These near-field pulse sequences were designed to allow excitation of a quantum system at one specific position at a certain time and probing at a different position at a later time. In the second approach, the concept of coherent two-dimensional (2D) spectroscopy, which has had great impact on the investigation of coherent quantum effects in recent years, was combined with photoemission electron microscopy, which yields a spatial resolution well below the optical diffraction limit. Using the analytic solutions, optical near fields were investigated in terms of spectroscopic applications. Near fields that are excited with polarization-shaped femtosecond laser pulses in the vicinity of appropriate nanostructures feature two properties that are especially interesting in the view of spectroscopic applications: On the one hand, control of the spatial distribution of the optical fields is achieved on the order of nanometers. On the other hand, the temporal evolution of these fields can be adjusted on the order of femtoseconds. In this thesis, solutions were found to calculate the optimal polarizationshaped laser pulses that control the near field in a general manner. The main idea to achieve this deterministic control was to disentangle the spatial and temporal near-field control. First, the spatial distribution of the optical near field was controlled by assigning the correct state of polarization for each frequency within the polarization-shaped laser pulse independently. The remaining total phase—not employed for spatial control—was then used for temporal near-field compression, which, in experimental applications, would lead to an enhancement of the nonlinear signal at the respective location. In contrast to the use of optical near fields, where pump–probe sequences themselves are localized below the diffraction limit and the detection does not have to provide the spatial resolution, a different approach was suggested in this thesis to gain spectroscopic information on the nanoscale. The new method was termed “Coherent two-dimensional (2D) nanoscopy” and transfers the concept of “conventional” coherent 2D spectroscopy to photoemission electron microscopy. The pulse sequences used for the investigation of quantum systems in this method are still limited by diffraction. However, the new key concept is to detect locally generated photoelectrons instead of optical signals. This yields a spatial resolution that is well below the optical diffraction limit. In “conventional” 2D spectroscopy a triple-pulse sequence initiates a four wave mixing process that creates a coherence. In a quantum mechanical process, this coherence is converted into a population by emission of an electric field, which is measured in the experiment. Contrarily, in the developed 2D nanoscopy, four-wave mixing is initiated by a quadruple-pulse sequence, which leaves the quantum system in an electronic population. This electronic population carries coherent information about the investigated quantum system and can be mapped with a spatial resolution down to a few nanometers given by the spatial resolution of the photoemission electron microscope. Hence, 2D nanoscopy can be considered a generalization of time-resolved photoemission experiments. In the future, it may be of similar beneficial value for the field of photoemission research as “conventional” 2D spectroscopy has proven to be for optical spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance experiments. In a first experimental implementation of coherent 2D nanoscopy coherent processes on a corrugated silver surface were measured and unexpected long coherence lifetimes could be determined.
Die ersten Beispiele für Lewis-Basen-Addukte des Stammboraphosphaketens H\(_{2}\)B-PCO und ihre cyclischen Dimere wurden hergestellt. Eines dieser Addukte zeigt unter milden Bedingungen eine Decarbonylierung und anschließende Insertion des Phosphinidens in die B-C-Bindung eines Borols, was in der Bildung sehr seltener Beispiele für 1,2-Phosphaborinine, B,P-Isostere von Benzol, resultiert. Die starken Donoreigenschaften dieser 1,2-Phosphaborinine wurden durch die Synthese ihrer π-Komplexe mit Metallen der Gruppe 6 bestätigt.
We have investigated the photoionization of ammonia borane (AB) and determined adiabatic ionization energy to be 9.26±0.03 eV for the X\(^{+}\) \(^{2}\)E←X \(^{1}\)A\(_{1}\) transition. Although the threshold photoelectron spectrum appears at first glance to be similar to the one of the isosteric ethane, the electronic situation differs markedly, due to different orbital energies. In addition, an appearance energy AE\(_{0K}\)-(NH\(_{3}\)BH\(_{3}\), NH\(_{3}\)BH\(_{2}\)\(^{+}\))= 10.00±0.03 eV has been determined, corresponding to the loss of a hydrogen atom at the BH\(_{3}\)-site. From the data, a 0 K bond dissociation energy for the B−H bond in the cation of 71.5±3 kJ mol\(^{-1}\) was derived, whereas the one in the neutral compound has been estimated to be 419±10 kJ mol\(^{-1}\).
Analyse der chemischen Reaktionen ungesättigter Verbindungen mit FEL- und Synchrotronstrahlung
(2013)
Brilliante Strahlungsquellen werden heute vielfach in der Forschung eingesetzt um Kristallstrukturen, Oberflächeneigenschaften oder Reaktionen zu untersuchen. Als Strahlungsquellen werden dafür bevorzugt Freie Elektronenlaser (FEL) oder Synchrotrons eingesetzt, da sie über weite Bereiche durchstimmbar sind und einen hohen Photonenfluss bereitstellen. Im Rahmen der vorliegenden Dissertation werden beide Lichtquellen verwendet um einerseits Isomere von Kohlenwasserstoffradikalen zu identifizieren und andererseits das Verhalten von Borylen und ungesättigten Verbindungen bei Photoionisation zu dokumentieren. Als erstes Experiment am FEL wurde ein IR-Spektrum von gasförmigen Allylradikalen aufgenommen. Das Allyl war ein Testlauf, da es als Kohlenwasserstoffradikal mit einer kleinen Dipolmomentänderung ein gutes Beispiel für ähnliche Verbindungen ist. Trotz der kleinen Änderung des Dipolmoments und der geringen Teilchendichte der Radikale in der Gasphase konnte ein gutes IR-Spektrum mit der IR-UV-Doppelresonanzmethode aufgenommen werden und die beobachteten Banden mit der Literatur zugeordnet werden. Das 3-Trifluoromethyl-3-Phenyl-carben (TFPC) wurde pyrolytisch aus 3-Trifluoromethyl-3-Phenyl-diazirin erzeugt. Dabei kam es beim Großteil der Carbene zu einer Umlagerung zu Trifluorstyrol. Neben dem Hauptprodukt Trifluorstyrol wurde das Triplett TFPC als Nebenprodukt identifiziert. Zusätzlich wurden die Isomerisierungsbarrieren für den Triplett- und Singulett-Übergangszustand berechnet. Die Radikale 1-Phenylpropargyl und 3-Phenylpropargyl sind anhand ihrer IR-Spektren unterscheidbar und lagern sich nicht ineinander oder in Indenyl um. Ausgehend von beiden Radikalen bilden sich die identischen Dimerisierungsprodukte im Massenkanal m/z = 230 (p-Terphenyl) und 228 (1-Phenylethinylnaphthalin (1PEN)). Außergewöhnlich war die Exklusivität dieser Produkte. Somit müssen deren Reaktionsmechanismen kinetisch viel schneller sein. Die Massen m/z = 230 und 228 waren bereits aus einer massenspektrometrischen Studie ausgehend von Benzol und Ethin bekannt, in der ihre Struktur jedoch nicht geklärt wurde. Somit müssen die gefundenen Dimerisierungsprodukte p-Terphenyl und 1PEN wichtige Intermediate bei der Entstehung von polyzyklischen aromatischen Kohlenwasserstoffen (PAK) und Ruß sein. Von gasförmigen NTCDA wurde mittels der TPEPICO-Methode am Synchrotron Schwellenphotoelektronenspektren aufgenommen. Dabei konnte die adiabatische Ionisierungsenergie (IE(ad)) zu 9.66 eV bestimmt werden. Weiterhin wurden noch fünf angeregte Zustände beobachtet, die mittels quantenmechanischer Berechnungen zugeordnet wurden. Es wurde die Photoionisation des Cycloheptatrienradikals (Tropyl) untersucht. Dabei wurde die erste Bande bei 6.23 eV der IE(ad) zugeordnet. Mit einer Franck-Condon Simulation wurden die beiden Schwingungsprogressionen einer CC-Streckschwingung (ν16+) und einer Kombination aus einer Ringatmung (ν2+) und ν16+ zugeordnet. Der erste Triplett- und Singulettzustand des angeregten Tropylkations konnte in Übereinstimmung mit der Literatur zugeordnet werden. Eine Schulter bei 9.85 eV und die intensivste Bande bei 11.6 eV konnten nicht eindeutig interpretiert werden. Neben dem Tropyl erscheint bei etwa 10.55 eV sein dissoziatives Zersetzungsprodukt, das Cyclopentadienylkation. Die IE(ad) des Borylenkomplex [(CO)5CrBN(SiMe3)2] wurde zu 7.1 eV bestimmt. Mit steigender Photonenenergie wurden alle CO-Liganden sequenziell abgespalten, während der Borligand auch bei 15 eV noch nicht dissoziierte. Von den fünf abgespaltenen CO-Liganden konnte die Auftrittsenergie bei 0 K unter Berücksichtigung der kinetischen Verschiebung gefittet werden. Durch einen einfachen thermodynamischen Zyklus wurden aus den Auftrittsenergien der Kationen die Bindungsenergien berechnet. Dabei zeigte sich, dass die zweite Bindungsenergie im Kation erheblich stärker ist als die erste. Dies deutet einen starken trans-Effekt des Borliganden an. In der Dissertation wurden die adiabatische Ionisierungsenergie der Moleküle sowie die Auftrittsenergien der Fragmente und die Bindungsenergien bestimmt. Zudem konnten Isomere anhand ihrer IR-Spektren unterschieden und ihre Dimerisierungsprodukte identifiziert werden. Damit wurden mit p-Terphenyl und 1PEN zwei weitere bedeutende Intermediate im Bildungsmechanismus von Ruß strukturell aufgeklärt. Die Beteiligung dieser Dimerisierungsprodukte am Bildungsmechanismus der PAK initiiert zukünftige Fragen. Was geschieht z.B. mit p-Terphenyl und 1PEN nach ihrer Bildung? Reagieren sie chemisch zu größeren Molekülen oder setzt bei ihnen bereits die Akkumulation zu Partikeln ein? Zusätzlich ist die Frage, ob Phenylpropargyl aus der Reaktion von Phenyl- und Propargylradikalen entsteht noch offen. Die erzielten Resultate haben einen wichtigen Schritt im Bildungsmechanismus der PAK identifiziert und damit die Grundlage für zukünftige Experimente gelegt.
Gegenstand dieser Arbeit ist die Untersuchung von gespeicherten Nanopartikeln mit weicher Röntgenstrahlung. Dafür wurde eine neue Apparatur aufgebaut. In dieser befindet sich ein dreidimensionaler elektrodynamischer Quadrupolspeicher, mit dem die positiv geladenen Nanopartikel berührungsfrei und ortsfest gespeichert werden. Mit Hilfe eines Streulichtnachweises werden die Eigenbewegungen der Partikel gemessen und daraus das Ladungs- zu Masseverhältnis ermittelt. Durch gezielte Umladung können die absolute Ladung und die Masse der Partikel mit hoher Genauigkeit bestimmt werden. Die gespeicherten Partikel wurden mit Synchrotronstrahlung am Elektronenspeicherring BESSY II untersucht. Bei niedrig geladenen Partikeln wurden Aufladungsexperimente mit variabler Photonenenergie durchgeführt. Dabei kann die Emission von einzelnen Elektronen beobachtet werden. Die totale Sekundärelektronenausbeute wurde für verschiedene Photonenenergien ermittelt. Sie gleicht den Werten, die durch Messungen mit Elektronenbeschuss bekannt sind. Die Partikel wurden weiterhin bis zum maximal erreichbaren Ladungszustand aufgeladen. Dieser Gleichgewichtszustand liegt unterhalb der theoretischen Erwartungen. Bei den hochgeladenen Partikeln wurden nach Abschalten der Synchrotronstrahlung Entladevorgänge beobachtet, die für das verminderte Ladungsgleichgewicht verantwortlich sind. Die Entladung wird als Ionen-Feldemission interpretiert, möglicherweise hervorgerufen durch den elektrischen Durchschlag im Teilchenmaterial. Das Aufladungsverhalten der Partikel bei verschiedenen Ladungszuständen wurde mit Hilfe von Messungen an der O 1s-Kante untersucht. Bei niedrigen Ladungszuständen liefert der Ladestrom die bekannten Röntgenabsorbtionsstrukturen von Siliziumdioxid. Stark geladene Partikel werden dagegen vor allem im Bereich der resonanten O 1s-Anregung durch schnelle Augerelektronen aufgeladen, während Photoelektronen aus dem O 1s-Kontinuum nicht mehr zur Aufladung beitragen. Deren kinetische Energie ist zu gering, um dem Coulombfeld des Partikels zu entkommen.
Diplatinum A‐frame complexes with a bridging (di)boron unit in the apex position were synthesized in a single step by the double oxidative addition of dihalo(di)borane precursors at a bis(diphosphine)‐bridged Pt\(^{0}\)\(_{2}\) complex. While structurally analogous to well‐known μ‐borylene complexes, in which delocalized dative three‐center‐two‐electron M‐B‐M bonding prevails, theoretical investigations into the nature of Pt−B bonding in these A‐frame complexes show them to be rare dimetalla(di)boranes displaying two electron‐sharing Pt−B σ‐bonds. This is experimentally reflected in the low kinetic stability of these compounds, which are prone to loss of the (di)boron bridgehead unit.
cAAC‐Stabilized 9,10‐diboraanthracenes—Acenes with Open‐Shell Singlet Biradical Ground States
(2020)
Narrow HOMO–LUMO gaps and high charge‐carrier mobilities make larger acenes potentially high‐efficient materials for organic electronic applications. The performance of such molecules was shown to significantly increase with increasing number of fused benzene rings. Bulk quantities, however, can only be obtained reliably for acenes up to heptacene. Theoretically, (oligo)acenes and (poly)acenes are predicted to have open‐shell singlet biradical and polyradical ground states, respectively, for which experimental evidence is still scarce. We have now been able to dramatically lower the HOMO–LUMO gap of acenes without the necessity of unfavorable elongation of their conjugated π system, by incorporating two boron atoms into the anthracene skeleton. Stabilizing the boron centers with cyclic (alkyl)(amino)carbenes gives neutral 9,10‐diboraanthracenes, which are shown to feature disjointed, open‐shell singlet biradical ground states.
Major advances in the chemistry of 5th and 6th row heavy p-block element compounds have recently uncovered intriguing reactivity patterns towards small molecules such as H\(_2\), CO\(_2\), and ethylene. However, well-defined, homogeneous insertion reactions with carbon monoxide, one of the benchmark substrates in this field, have not been reported to date. We demonstrate here, that a cationic bismuth amide undergoes facile insertion of CO into the Bi–N bond under mild conditions. This approach grants direct access to the first cationic bismuth carbamoyl species. Its characterization by NMR, IR, and UV/vis spectroscopy, elemental analysis, single-crystal X-ray analysis, cyclic voltammetry, and DFT calculations revealed intriguing properties, such as a reversible electron transfer at the bismuth center and an absorption feature at 353 nm ascribed to a transition involving σ- and π-type orbitals of the bismuth-carbamoyl functionality. A combined experimental and theoretical approach provided insight into the mechanism of CO insertion. The substrate scope could be extended to isonitriles.
Radiationless energy transfer is at the core of diverse phenomena, such as light harvesting in photosynthesis\(^1\), energy-transfer-based microspectroscopies\(^2\), nanoscale quantum entanglement\(^3\) and photonic-mode hybridization\(^4\). Typically, the transfer is efficient only for separations that are much shorter than the diffraction limit. This hampers its application in optical communication and quantum information processing, which require spatially selective addressing. Here, we demonstrate highly efficient radiationless coherent energy transfer over a distance of twice the excitation wavelength by combining localized and delocalized\(^5\) plasmonic modes. Analogous to the Tavis-Cummings model, two whispering-gallery-mode antennas\(^6\) placed in the foci of an elliptical plasmonic cavity\(^7\) fabricated from single-crystal gold plates act as a pair of oscillators coupled to a common cavity mode. Time-resolved two-photon photoemission electron microscopy (TR 2P-PEEM) reveals an ultrafast long-range periodic energy transfer in accordance with the simulations. Our observations open perspectives for the optimization and tailoring of mesoscopic energy transfer and long-range quantum emitter coupling.
The enhancement of electronic and optical properties of semiconductor nanostructures is known as a direct consequence of the spatial confinement of carriers. However, the physics of quantum confinement is still not entirely understood. This work focuses on a qualitative study of quasi-zero dimensional II-VI semiconductor nanostructures (quantum dots QDs). In particular, commercially available as-received and heat treated CdSxSe1-x QDs embedded in a dielectric matrix were investigated by means of linear and nonlinear spectroscopy techniques. Low wavenumber Raman in off-resonance scattering regime was applied in order to obtain key-properties of the nanocrystals, such as the QD's size and the distribution of the QD's size inside the inhomogeneous broadening. Moreover, by careful selection of the polarization geometries, different acoustic vibrational modes could be evidenced. In comparison to the bulk, 3D confinement of carriers leads to modifications in the energy distribution in a QD and as a consequence, the intensity of the acoustical phonons is enhanced. However, only 2 acoustic vibrational modes (labelled l=0 and l=2) are Raman-active, which were selectively excited using linear polarized laser light in parallel- and cross-polarized excitation geometries. The QD's size was determined using the dependence of the frequency of the acoustic vibrational mode on the diameter of the vibrating particle, whereas the QD's size distribution was estimated from the normalized full width at the half of the maximum (FWHM) of the symmetric acoustic vibrational mode. In order to study relaxation mechanisms, which in quantum confined systems occur on a ps time scale, ultrafast spectroscopy techniques using laser pulses in the fs range must be employed. To this purpose, fs-FWM and fs-PPT measurements were performed on CdS0.6Se0.4 QDs of 9.1 nm in diameter, embedded in a glass matrix. The laser pulses employed in these experiments were circularly polarized, careful selection of the polarization geometries making different nonlinear processes available to study. It was shown that the relaxation of polarization selection rules depend strongly on the symmetry of the nanocrystals under discussion. The investigated nanocrystals belong to the symmetry group C2v or lower and their hexagonal crystal shape could be evidenced. The relaxation of selection rules was explained in the framework of the 4-level system, including a ground state, two exciton states and a biexcitons state. The appearance of FWM and PPT signals in forbidden polarization geometries was shown to be due to exciton state splitting due to lowering of the QD’s symmetry and due to the strong Coulomb interaction between carriers belonging to the same nanocrystal. Moreover, the significant difference in the origin of the gratings created by two pulses having the same and opposite polarizations, respectively. The intensity of the FWM signals should be the square of the intensity of the PPT signals and therefore the PPT measurements were employed as a check method for the results yielded by the FWM technique. The efficiency of circularly polarized femtosecond FWM spectroscopy techniques was proved once more in the investigation of heat treated CdSe QDs embedded in a dielectric matrix. The role of non-phonon energy relaxation mechanisms in the exciton ground and excited state of the QDs ensemble was extensively studied. Moreover, the dependence of the crystal shape asymmetry on the particle size and on the growth conditions could be estimated. It was shown, that the most efficient procedure to grow high quality nanocrystals is a longer heat treating at lower temperatures. In this case, the particles have more time to "nucleate" and to adopt a more "symmetric" shape. Further, the relaxation of excitons was extensively investigated. It was shown, that the electron intraband dynamics depend strongly on the Coulomb interaction between electrons and holes. Even at low excitation density, the Auger processes cannot be ignored. Auger autoionization of excitons followed by capture of carriers in surface states and deep traps in the dielectric matrix slow down the exciton relaxation process leading to an exciton lifetime ranging on a ps time scale. The relaxation of excitons from higher lying energy levels occurs also on two paths. At the beginning of the relaxation process (t31 < 400 fs), Auger-like thermalization of carriers is responsible for relaxation of the electron from 1pe into its 1se state, while the hole relaxes rapidly through its dense spectrum of states in the valence band. This process is immediately followed by capturing of carriers in deep traps, situated at the semiconductor-dielectric heterointerface. The traps are a consequence of the QD's asymmetry: the more and the deeper the traps, the higher the asymmetry of the nanocrystals (the band offset  is larger). This work presents a complete characterization of CdSSe QDs embedded in a glass matrix. The most important properties of the nanocrystals like QD's size and size distribution inside the inhomogeneous broadening were determined by means of low wavenumber Raman spectroscopy. In order to draw a full picture of these nanoparticles further complementary nonlinear spectroscopy techniques were used. Invaluable conclusions were available as a result of TI-FWM techniques applied in the framework of transient grating on 3D confined nanocrystals embedded in a glass matrix. The polarized the TI-FWM measurements were successfully performed on different QDs ensembles in order to determine symmetry properties and to describe the ultrafast relaxation mechanisms. This work brings additional contribution concerning the preparation of high quality QDs by presenting the effect of different growth conditions on the QDs symmetry, thus indicating a way for efficient manufacturing of nanocrystals.
Die vorliegende Dissertation beschäftigt sich mit nichtlinearen Reaktions-Transport-Systemen, die in zweidimensionalen Medien chemische Wellen und propagierende Fronten ausbilden können. Grundlage dieser Art von räumlichen Mustern sind sogenannte erregbare Systeme. Ein Themengebiet der Arbeit umfasst die Untersuchung von Spiralwellen in der Belousov-Zhabotinsky-Reaktion (BZ-Reaktion). Ein weiterer Teilabschnitt behandelt die Wechselwirkung zwischen Polymersystemen und nichtlinearen chemischen Reaktionen. In den untersuchten, räumlich ausgedehnten Systemen spielt die Kopplung nichtlinearer chemischer Reaktionen an Transportprozesse eine wichtige Rolle. Die generischen Typen von chemischen Mustern sind Pulswellen in einer Raumdimension, kreisförmige Wellen und Spiralen in einem zweidimensionalen System und kugelschalen- bzw. schraubenförmige Wellen in drei Raumdimensionen. Auf theoretischer Basis werden Effekte von Spiralwellen bei Änderung der Erregbarkeit des Reaktionsmediums dargestellt.In der vorliegenden Arbeit ist es erstmals gelungen, eine Methode zu entwickeln, die es erlaubt die Erregbarkeit in der BZ-Reaktion sowie in einer Vielzahl weiterer nichtlinearer Reaktionen zu beeinflussen. Ein weiteres Themengebiet dieser Dissertation ist die Untersuchung von pH-Systeme in Hydrogelen. Dies sind hydrophile Gele, die ihr Volumen in wässrigen Lösungen verändern können. In der vorliegenden Arbeit wurden Gele auf der Basis von Acrylamid und Methacrylat als Copolymer verwendet und an die oben beschriebenen pH-Oszillatoren angekoppelt. Durch Polymerisation von Acrylamid zusammen mit Natriummethacrylat konnte ein mit einem pH-Oszillator beladenes Gel hergestellt werden, das nach Start der Reaktion durch eine kleine Menge Säure mit einer deutlichen Volumenkontraktion reagiert. Diese Kontraktion des Gels konnte ausgenutzt werden, um die chemische Energie eines pH-Reaktionssystems in eine mechanische Kraftwirkung umzuwandeln.
The goal of this thesis was the development and application of higher-order spectroscopic techniques. In contrast to ordinary pump–probe (PP) and two-dimensional (2D) spectroscopy, higher-order coherently detected spectroscopic methods measure a polarization that has an order of nonlinearity higher than three. The key idea of the techniques in this thesis is to isolate the higher-order signals from the lower-order signals either by their excitation frequency or by their excitation intensity dependence. Due to the increased number of interactions in higher-order spectroscopy, highly excited states can be probed. For excitonic systems such as aggregates and polymers, the fifth-order signal allows one to directly measure exciton–exciton annihilation (EEA). In polymers and aggregates, the exciton transport is not connected to a change of the absorption and can therefore not be investigated with conventional third-order techniques. In contrast, EEA can be used as a probe to study exciton diffusion in these isonergetic systems. As a part of this thesis, anisotropy in fifth-order 2D spectroscopy was investigated and was used to study geometric properties in polymers.
In 2D spectroscopy, the multi-quantum signals are separated from each other by their spectral position along the excitation axis. This concept can be extended systematically to higher signals. Another approach to isolate multi-quantum signals in PP spectroscopy utilizes the excitation intensity. The PP signal is measured at specific excitation intensities and linear combinations of these measurements result in different signal contributions. However, these signals do not correspond to clean nonlinear signals because the higher-order signals contaminate the lower-order multi-quantum signals. In this thesis, a correction protocol was derived that uses the isolated multiquantum signals, both from 2D spectroscopy and from PP spectroscopy, to remove the contamination of higher-order signals resulting in clean nonlinear signals. Using the correction on the third-order signal allows one to obtain annihilation-free signals at high excitation intensities, i.e., with high signal-to-noise ratio. Isolation and correction in PP and 2D spectroscopy were directly compared by measuring the clean third-order signals of squaraine oligomers at high excitation intensities. Furthermore, higher-order PP spectroscopy was used to isolate up to the 13th nonlinear order of squaraine polymers.
The demonstrated spectroscopic techniques represent general procedures to isolate clean signals in terms of perturbation theory. The technique of higher-order PP spectroscopy needs only small modifications of ordinary PP setups which opens the field of higher-order spectroscopy to the broad scientific community. The technique to obtain clean nonlinear signals allows one to systematically increase the number of interacting (quasi)particles in a system and to characterize their interaction energies and dynamics.
Coherent Multidimensional Spectroscopy in Molecular Beams and Liquids Using Incoherent Observables
(2018)
The aim of the present work was to implement an experimental approach that enables coherent two-dimensional (2D) electronic spectroscopy of samples in various states of matter. For samples in the liquid phase, a setup was realized that utilizes the sample fluorescence for the acquisition of 2D spectra. Whereas the liquid-phase approach has been established before, coherent 2D spectroscopy on gaseous samples in a molecular beam as developed in this work is in fact a new method. It employs for the first time cations in a time-of-flight mass spectrometer for signal detection and was used to obtain the first ion-selective 2D spectra of a molecular-beam sample. Additionally, a new acquisition concept was developed in this thesis that significantly decreases measurement times in 2D spectroscopy using optimized sparse sampling and a compressed-sensing reconstruction algorithm.
Characteristic for the variant of 2D spectroscopy presented in this work is the usage of a phase-coherent sequence of four laser pulses in a fully collinear geometry for sample excitation. The pulse sequence was generated by a custom-designed pulse shaper that is capable of rapid scanning by changing the pulse parameters such as time delays and phases with the repetition rate of the laser. The sample's response was detected by monitoring incoherent observables that arise from the final-state population, for instance fluorescence or cations. Phase cycling, i.e., signal acquisition with different combinations of the relative phases of the excitation pulses, was applied to extract nonlinear signal contributions from the full signal during data analysis.
Liquid-phase 2D fluorescence spectroscopy was established with the laser dye cresyl violet as a sample molecule, confirming coherent oscillations previously observed in literature that are originating from vibronic coherences in specific regions of the 2D spectrum.
The data set of this experiment was used subsequently to introduce optimized sparse sampling in 2D spectroscopy. An optimization algorithm was implemented in order to find the best sampling pattern while taking only one quarter of the regular time-domain sampling points, thereby reducing the acquisition time by a factor of four. Signal recovery was based on a new and compact representation of 2D spectra using the von Neumann basis, which required about six times less coefficients than the Fourier basis to retain the relevant information. Successful reconstruction was shown by recovering the coherent oscillations in cresyl violet from a reduced data set.
Finally, molecular-beam coherent 2D spectroscopy was introduced with an investigation of ionization pathways in highly-excited nitrogen dioxide, revealing transitions to discrete auto-ionizing states as the dominant contribution to the ion signal. Furthermore, the advantage of the time-of-flight approach to obtain reactant and product 2D spectra simultaneously enabled the observation of distinct differences in the multiphoton-ionization response functions of the nitrogen dioxide cation and the nitrogen oxide ionic fragment.
The developed experimental techniques of this work will facilitate fast acquisition of 2D spectra for samples in various states of matter and permit reliable direct comparison of results. Therefore, they pave the way to study the properties of quantum coherences during photophysical processes or photochemical reactions in different environments.
This thesis describes novel concepts for the measurement of the static and dynamic properties of the electronic structure of molecules and nanocrystals in the liquid phase by means of coherent fluorescence-detected spectroscopy in two and three frequency dimensions. These concepts are based on the systematic variation ("phase cycling") of a sequence of multiple time-delayed femtosecond excitation pulses in order to decode a multitude of novel nonlinear signals from the resulting phase-dependent fluorescence signal. These signals represent any permutation of correlations between zero-, one-, two-, and three-quantum coherences. To this end, two new phase-cycling schemes have been developed which can simultaneously resolve and discriminate several nonlinear signals of sixth order, including those of the fourth order of nonlinearity.
By means of the sixth-order signals recorded in this work, static properties of highly excited electronic states in molecules such as their energies, transition dipole moments, and relative displacement of electronic potential surfaces, as well as dynamic properties in terms of their relaxation kinetics, can be ascertained. Furthermore, it was shown that these signals are suitable for the characterization of exciton-exciton correlations in colloidal quantum dots and for the measurement of ultrafast exciton-exciton annihilation in molecular aggregates.
The experiments performed in this thesis mark an important step towards the complete characterization of the nonlinear response of quantum systems. In view of this, the concept of fluorescence-detected multiple-quantum coherence multidimensional spectroscopy introduced here offers a unified, systematic approach.
In virtue of the technical advantages such as the use of a single excitation beam and the absence of nonresonant contributions, the measurement protocols developed here can be directly transferred to other incoherent observables and to sample systems in other states of matter. Furthermore, the approaches presented here can be systematically extended to higher frequency dimensions and higher orders of nonlinearity.
Three spectroscopic techniques are presented that provide simultaneous spatial and temporal resolution: modified confocal microscopy with heterodyne detection, space-time-resolved spectroscopy using coherent control concepts, and coherent two-dimensional nano-spectroscopy. Latest experimental results are discussed.
Coherent two-dimensional (2D) optical spectroscopy has revolutionized our ability to probe many types of couplings and ultrafast dynamics in complex quantum systems. The dynamics and function of any quantum system strongly depend on couplings to the environment. Thus, studying coherent interactions for different environments remains a topic of tremendous interest. Here we introduce coherent 2D electronic mass spectrometry that allows 2D measurements on effusive molecular beams and thus on quantum systems with minimum system-bath interaction and employ this to identify the major ionization pathway of 3d Rydberg states in NO2. Furthermore, we present 2D spectra of multiphoton ionization, disclosing distinct differences in the nonlinear response functions leading to the ionization products. We also realize the equivalent of spectrally resolved transient-absorption measurements without the necessity for acquiring weak absorption changes. Using time-of-flight detection introduces cations as an observable, enabling the 2D spectroscopic study on isolated systems of photophysical and photochemical reactions.
Coherent two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy in the Soret band of a chiral porphyrin dimer
(2013)
Using coherent two-dimensional (2D) electronic spectroscopy in fully noncollinear geometry, we observe the excitonic coupling of β,β'-linked bis[tetraphenylporphyrinato-zinc(II)] on an ultrafast timescale in the excited state. The results for two states in the Soret band originating from an excitonic splitting are explained by population transfer with approximately 100 fs from the energetically higher to the lower excitonic state. This interpretation is consistent with exemplary calculations of 2D spectra for a model four-level system with coupling.
Collective Response in DNA-Stabilized Silver Cluster Assemblies from First-Principles Simulations
(2019)
We investigate fluorescence resonant energy transfer and concurrent electron dynamics in a pair of DNA-stabilized silver clusters. For this purpose we introduce a methodology for the simulation of collective optoelectronic properties of coupled molecular aggregates starting from first-principles quantum chemistry, which can be further applied to a broad range of coupled molecular systems to study their electro-optical response. Our simulations reveal the existence of low-energy coupled excitonic states, which enable ultrafast energy transport between subunits, and give insight into the origin of the fluorescence signal in coupled DNA-stabilized silver clusters, which have been recently experimentally detected. Hence, we demonstrate the possibility of constructing ultrasmall energy transmission lines and optical converters based on these hybrid molecular systems.