Excitation energy migration in multiporphyrin arrays

Abstract

During the last decade, the exploration of nanoscale device and circuitry based on molecules has gained increasing interest. In parallel with this, considerable effort is being devoted to the development of molecular photonic/electronic materials based on various porphyrin arrays. This involves light as an input/output signal and excitation energy migration as a mechanism for signal transmission. Absorption of a photon at the light collector end of the porphyrin array yields the excited state, which migrates among the intervening pigments until reaching the emitter, whereupon another photon is emitted. As a consequence, it is relevant to understand the excitation energy transfer (EET) processes occurring in various forms of porphyrin arrays for the applications as artificial light harvesting arrays and molecular photonic/electronic wires. Since the excitonic (dipole) and electronic (conjugation) couplings between the adjacent porphyrin moieties in porphyrin arrays govern the EET processes, we have characterized the EET rates of various forms of multiporphyrin arrays (linear, cyclic, and box) based on various time-resolved spectroscopic measurements. We believe that our observations provide a platform for further development of molecular photonic/electronic materials based on porphyrin arrays.