Two-color two-photon excited fluorescence of 2-methyl-5-tert-butyl-p-quaterphenyl (DMQ): ab initio calculations and experimental determination of the molecular parameters.
The paper presents experimental and theoretical studies of two-photon excitation dynamics in 2-methyl-5-tert-butyl-p-quaterphenyl (DMQ) dissolved in cyclohexane/paraffin. Experimentally, a two-color two-photon (2C2P) excitation by two femtosecond laser pulses at 800 and 400 nm has been used in combination with the time-resolved detection of polarized molecular fluorescence. The fluorescence decay was found to be two-exponential, resulting in the molecular excited state lifetime of 753 ± 10 ps and the rotational correlation time of 724 ± 45 ps. Control over the excited and fluorescent photons polarization has been used for determination from experiment of seven independent molecular parameters. The experimental data were analyzed on the basis of the recent theoretical approach [Shternin, P. S., Gericke, K.-H., and Vasyutinskii, O. S. Mol. Phys. 2010, 108, 813-825] supported by ab initio computations of the DMQ electronic structure and transition dipole moments. The results obtained imply that the two-photon absorption tensor S is mostly diagonal and that the Szz tensor component onto the molecular long axis gives the major contribution of 93%. However, it was also found that a number of different symmetry two-photon transitions related to the dipole moment components dxdz and dydz are excited in the conditions of our measurements.
Two-color two-photon excited fluorescence of indole: determination of wavelength-dependent molecular parameters.
We present a detailed study of two-color two-photon excited fluorescence in indole dissolved in propylene glycol. Femtosecond excitation pulses at effective wavelengths from 268 to 293.33 nm were used to populate the two lowest indole excited states (1)La and (1)Lb and polarized fluorescence was then detected. All seven molecular parameters and the two-photon polarization ratio Ω containing information on two-photon absorption dynamics, molecular lifetime τf, and rotation correlation time τrot have been determined from experiment and analyzed as a function of the excitation wavelength. The analysis of the experimental data has shown that (1)Lb-(1)La inversion occurred under the conditions of our experiment. The two-photon absorption predominantly populated the (1)La state at all excitation wavelengths but in the 287-289 nm area which contained an absorption hump of the (1)Lb state 0-0 origin. The components of the two-photon excitation tensor S were analyzed giving important information on the principal tensor axes and absorption symmetry. The results obtained are in a good agreement with the results reported by other groups. The lifetime τf and the rotation correlation time τrot showed no explicit dependence on the effective excitation wavelength. Their calculated weighted average values were found to be τf = 3.83 ± 0.14 ns and τrot = 0.74 ± 0.06 ns.
Thermally Induced Dynamics of Satellite Solar Panels
Thermally induced structural motions are known to affect the attitude dynamics of low Earth orbiting satellites during eclipse transitions. Motions of e exible appendages such as solar panels lead to rigid body rotations of the entire satellite because the total angular momentum of the system is conserved. These potentially large attitude disturbances may violate pointing accuracy and jitter requirements. One type of thermally induced dynamics exhibited by solar panels is thermal snap. The Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite is a prominent example of a satellite that experiences thermal snap disturbances during eclipse transitions. This paper describes recent studies of thermally induced dynamicsof solarpanels, including an analysisofsatelliteattitudedynamics resulting from thermally induced structural motions and a laboratory investigation of the thermal-structural performance of a satellite solar panel. Analytical and experimental results demonstrate thermal bending deformations with acceleration transients that have characteristic thermal snap disturbance histories in response to rapid changes in heating. The studies show that solar panel thermal snap disturbances are caused by through-the-thickness temperature differences that vary at a nonconstant rate. Finite element analysis correctly predicts the thermal snap phenomenon observed in the solar panel experiments.