Femtosecond Dynamics of Excited-State Evolution in [Ru(bpy)3]2+

doi:10.1126/science.275.5296.54

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Science 3 January 1997:
Vol. 275. no. 5296, pp. 54 - 57
DOI: 10.1126/science.275.5296.54

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Reports

Femtosecond Dynamics of Excited-State Evolution in [Ru(bpy)₃]²⁺

Niels H. Damrauer, Giulio Cerullo, ^* Alvin Yeh, Thomas R. Boussie, Charles V. Shank, James K. McCusker

Time-resolved absorption spectroscopy on the femtosecond time scale has been used to monitor the earliest events associatedwith excited-state relaxation in tris-(2,2 $'$ -bipyridine)ruthenium(II).The data reveal dynamics associated with the temporal evolutionof the Franck-Condon state to the lowest energy excited stateof this molecule. The process is essentially complete in $sim$ 300femtoseconds after the initial excitation. This result is discussedwith regard to reformulating long-held notions about excited-staterelaxation, as well as its implication for the importance of non-equilibriumexcited-state processes in understanding and designing molecular-basedelectron transfer, artificial photosynthetic, and photovoltaicassemblies in which compounds of this class are currently playinga key role.

N. H. Damrauer, T. R. Boussie, J. K. McCusker, Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
G. Cerullo and A. Yeh, Material Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
C. V. Shank, Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, and Materials Science Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
^* Present address: Dipartimento di Fisica del Politecnico, P.za L. Da Vinci 32, 20133 Milano, Italy.

To whom correspondence should be addressed.