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A molecular movie of ultrafast singlet fission.

Accepted version
Peer-reviewed

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Authors

Schnedermann, Christoph  ORCID logo  https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2841-8586
Alvertis, Antonios M  ORCID logo  https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5916-3419
Wende, Torsten 
Lukman, Steven 
Feng, Jiaqi 

Abstract

The complex dynamics of ultrafast photoinduced reactions are governed by their evolution along vibronically coupled potential energy surfaces. It is now often possible to identify such processes, but a detailed depiction of the crucial nuclear degrees of freedom involved typically remains elusive. Here, combining excited-state time-domain Raman spectroscopy and tree-tensor network state simulations, we construct the full 108-atom molecular movie of ultrafast singlet fission in a pentacene dimer, explicitly treating 252 vibrational modes on 5 electronic states. We assign the tuning and coupling modes, quantifying their relative intensities and contributions, and demonstrate how these modes coherently synchronise to drive the reaction. Our combined experimental and theoretical approach reveals the atomic-scale singlet fission mechanism and can be generalized to other ultrafast photoinduced reactions in complex systems. This will enable mechanistic insight on a detailed structural level, with the ultimate aim to rationally design molecules to maximise the efficiency of photoinduced reactions.

Description

Keywords

34 Chemical Sciences, 3406 Physical Chemistry, 3407 Theoretical and Computational Chemistry, 51 Physical Sciences, 5102 Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics

Journal Title

Nat Commun

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

2041-1723
2041-1723

Volume Title

10

Publisher

Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Rights

All rights reserved
Sponsorship
Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 (RF499/2018)
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/M01083X/1)
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/M006360/1)
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/M024873/1)
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/P027741/1)
European Research Council (758826)
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/M005143/1)
EPSRC (1819253)
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/L015552/1)
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/P007767/1)
This work was supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, U.K. (Grant Numbers EP/M025330/1, EP/M01083X/1, EP/L015552/1 and EP/M006360/1)