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The Journal of Chemical Physics

Coherence in multilevel systems. I. Coherence in excited states and its application to optically detected magnetic resonance in phosphorescent triplet states

W.G. Breiland, HENRY C. BRENNER, Charles Bonner Harris

Published May 1, 1975• 76 citations
Publisher

Abstract

A method for monitoring the time development of the coherent components in a multilevel system using an observable which can measure only the relative populations in the levels is presented. Using standard density matrix formulation, expressions are obtained for the conventional and this new ’’probe’’ pulse method. For several of the more common coherence experiments, optically detected magnetic resonance of molecular excited triplet states is used to illustrate the principles. The effect of coherent averaging of relaxation terms in the spin Hamiltonian is discussed and specifically applied to excited triplet states in zero field. Finally, experimental results of coherence measurements are presented along with a detailed description of the apparatus and methods used.

DOI
10.1063/1.430981

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The Journal of Chemical Physics•Sep 1, 1999•39 citations
A method for monitoring the time development of the coherent components in a multilevel system using an observable which can measure only the relative populations in the levels is presented. Using standard density matrix formulation, expressions are obtained for the conventional and this new ’’probe’’ pulse method. For several of the more common coherence experiments, optically detected magnetic resonance of molecular excited triplet states is used to illustrate the principles. The effect of coherent averaging of relaxation terms in the spin Hamiltonian is discussed and specifically applied to excited triplet states in zero field. Finally, experimental results of coherence measurements are presented along with a detailed description of the apparatus and methods used.
A method is described whereby the time development of the coherent components within the spin sublevels of an excited triplet state can be monitored, using an observable which can measure only the total population of the sublevel manifold, such as absorbance to higher triplet states or singlet fluorescence. The approach is very similar to the ’’probe’’ pulse method recently developed for the optical detection of electron spin coherence in phosphorescent triplet states, but the procedure for extracting the value of the coherent component is different. In the present approach it is shown that the recovery of the total population of the sublevel manifold to steady state, after the pulse sequence has been applied, is sensitive to the coherence. By measuring the amplitude of the recovery curve as a function of pulse timing the lifetime of the coherent component can be obtained. Application of the method to some common coherence experiments is discussed.
In this series of papers we report on the generation and application of multiple pulse phase coherent sequences in optical spectroscopy.In this paper the effects of intense pulse trains on systems with only two resonant energy levels are analyzed, with particular attention to the effects of extreme inhomogeneous broadening and population depletion to nonresonant levels.It is shown that these effects, which are present in virtually all optical systems, make the simple gyroscopic model of optical coherent transients invalid.Exact calculations show, e.g., that a two-pulse photon echo is not maximized by a 1:2 length ratio for the pulses; that the maximum excited state population is not created by a 180" pulse; and that three equal pulses are almost as effective as a 1:2:1 ratio for producing three pulse echoes.The role of pulse phase is extensively analyzed.Pulse sequences are proposed and experimentally demonstrated which permit optical phase sensitive detection and measurement of ground state relaxation parameters.The experimental results are based on an extension of the acousto-optic modulation and fluoresence detection techniques of Zewail and Orlowski [Zewail et al., Chem.Phys.Lett.48, 256 (1977); Orlowski et al., ibid.54, 197 (1978)).The relative merits offluorescence and transverse polarization detection are discussed, and fluorescence detection is shown to be more generally useful for these new sequences.Finally, composite pulse trains are shown to be capable of substantially increasing the signal available from highly inhomogenously broadened transitions.In paper II we extend the treatment to multilevel systems with some emphasis on solid state applications.
In this series of papers we report on the generation and application of multiple pulse phase coherent sequences in optical spectroscopy. In this paper the effects of intense pulse trains on systems with only two resonant energy levels are analyzed, with particular attention to the effects of extreme inhomogeneous broadening and population depletion to nonresonant levels. It is shown that these effects, which are present in virtually all optical systems, make the simple gyroscopic model of optical coherent transients invalid. Exact calculations show, e.g., that a two-pulse photon echo is not maximized by a 1:2 length ratio for the pulses; that the maximum excited state population is not created by a 180° pulse; and that three equal pulses are almost as effective as a 1:2:1 ratio for producing three pulse echoes. The role of pulse phase is extensively analyzed. Pulse sequences are proposed and experimentally demonstrated which permit optical phase sensitive detection and measurement of ground state relaxation parameters. The experimental results are based on an extension of the acousto-optic modulation and fluoresence detection techniques of Zewail and Orlowski [Zewail et al., Chem. Phys. Lett. 48, 256 (1977); Orlowski et al., ibid. 54, 197 (1978)]. The relative merits of fluorescence and transverse polarization detection are discussed, and fluorescence detection is shown to be more generally useful for these new sequences. Finally, composite pulse trains are shown to be capable of substantially increasing the signal available from highly inhomogenously broadened transitions. In paper II we extend the treatment to multilevel systems with some emphasis on solid state applications.
The effects of incoherent feeding and decay on a coherently driven two-level system are investigated using density-matrix techniques. A closed-form solution that includes the effects of relaxation and spontaneous emission between the two levels is obtained for cases in which the sample size is both small and large compared to the wavelength of the coherent field. The formalism developed herein is somewhat more general than the original approach of Bloch, Bloembergen, Purcell, Pound, and Redfield, insofar as it is applicable to cases where the trace of density matrix is not constant in time. As such, several new phenomena are predicted. Specifically, the steady-state solutions reveal that under appropriate conditions a significant off-resonance coherent component can be maintained indefinitely by the combination of driving field and incoherent feeding. We term this effect "kinetic coherence" and develop its formalism for both optical and radio-frequency fields.
A general description of zero-temperature pure dephasing in optical multilevel systems is presented. We derive expressions for the dephasing time due to transition multipole interactions. Specific application of the theory to mixed crystal systems predicts the dependence of the dephasing times on the concentration of guest molecules and transition dipole moments which is observed experimentally. Numerical estimates of the zero-temperature dephasing rates are in good agreement with experiments when the dependence on exciting pulse flip angle is included. Finally, our results suggest new experiments which are briefly discussed.
Control of coherence and population transfer between the ground and excited states is reported using three-pulse four-wave mixing. The inherent vibrational dynamics of the system are utilized in timing the pulse sequence that controls the excitation process. A slight alteration in the pulse sequence timing causes a change in the observed signal from coherent vibration in the ground state to coherent vibration in the excited state. This control is demonstrated experimentally for molecular iodine. The theoretical basis for these experiments is discussed in terms of the density matrix for a multilevel system.