Time-resolved spectroscopy allows for analyzing light-induced energy conversion and chromophore–chromophore interactions in molecular systems, which is a prerequisite in the design of new materials and for improving the efficiency of opto-electronic devices. To elucidate photo-induced dynamics of complex molecular systems, transient absorption (TA) and coherent two-dimensional (2D) spectroscopy were employed and combined with additional experimental techniques, theoretical approaches, and simulation models in this work. A systematic series of merocyanines, synthetically varied in the number of chromophores and subsitution pattern, attached to a benzene unit was investigated in cooperation with the group of Prof. Dr. Frank Würthner at the University of Würzburg. The global analysis of several TA experiments, and additional coherent 2D spectroscopy experiments, provided the basis to elaborate a relaxation scheme which was applicable for all merocyanine systems under investigation. This relaxation scheme is based on a double minimum on the excited-state potential energy surface. One of these minima is assigned to an intramolecular charge-transfer state which is stabilized in the bis- and tris-chromophoric dyes by chromphore–chromophore interactions, resulting in an increase in excited-state lifetime. Electro-optical absorption and density functional theory (DFT) calculations revealed a preferential chromophore orientation which compensates most of the dipole moment of the individual chromophores. Based on this structural assignment the conformationdependent exciton energy splitting was calculated. The linear absorption spectra of the multi-chromophoric merocyanines could be described by a combination of monomeric and excitonic spectra. Subsequently, a structurally complex polymeric squaraine dye was studied in collaboration with the research groups of Prof. Dr. Christoph Lambert and Prof. Dr. Roland Mitric at the University of Würzburg. This polymer consists of a superposition of zigzag and helix structures depending on the solvent. High-level DFT calculations confirmed the previous assignment that zigzag and helix structures can be treated as J- and H-aggregates, respectively. TA experiments revealed that in dependence on the solvent as well as the excitation energy, ultrafast energy transfer within the squaraine polymer proceeds from initially excited helix segments to zigzag segments or vice versa. Additionally, 2D spectroscopy confirmed the observed sub-picosecond dynamics. In contrast to other conjugated polymers such as MEH-PPV, which is investigated in the last chapter, ultrafast energy transfer in squaraine polymers is based on the matching of the density of states between donor and acceptor segments due to the small reorganization energy in cyanine-like chromophores. Finally, the photo-induced dynamics of the aggregated phase of the conjugated polymer MEH-PPV was investigated in cooperation with the group of Prof. Dr. Anna Köhler at the University of Bayreuth. Our collaborators had previously described the aggregation of MEH-PPV upon cooling by the formation of so-called HJ-aggregates based on exciton theory. By TA measurements and by making use of an affiliated band analysis distinct relaxation processes in the excited state and to the ground state were discriminated. By employing 2D spectroscopy the energy transfer between different conjugated segments within the aggregated polymer was resolved. The initial exciton relaxation within the aggregated phase indicates a low exciton mobility, in contrast to the subsequent energy transfer between different chromophores within several picoseconds. This work contributes by its systematic study of structure-dependent relaxation dynamics to the basic understanding of the structure-function relationship within complex molecular systems. The investigated molecular classes display a high potential to increase efficiencies of opto-electronic devices, e.g., organic solar cells, by the selective choice of the molecular morphology.

Natural light harvesting as well as optoelectronic and photovoltaic devices depend on efficient transport of energy following photoexcitation. Using common spectroscopic methods, however, it is challenging to discriminate one-exciton dynamics from multi-exciton interactions that arise when more than one excitation is present in the system. Here we introduce a coherent two-dimensional spectroscopic method that provides a signal only in case that the presence of one exciton influences the behavior of another one. Exemplarily, we monitor exciton diffusion by annihilation in a perylene bisimide-based J-aggregate. We determine quantitatively the exciton diffusion constant from exciton–exciton-interaction 2D spectra and reconstruct the annihilation-free dynamics for large pump powers. The latter enables for ultrafast spectroscopy at much higher intensities than conventionally possible and thus improves signal-to-noise ratios for multichromophore systems; the former recovers spatio–temporal dynamics for a broad range of phenomena in which exciton interactions are present.