Ultrafast vibrational and electronic relaxation of carotenoids investigated with Femtosecond Stimulated Raman Spectroscopy
E Ragnoni, T M Kardaś, A Lapini, P Foggi, R Righini and M Di Donato

Abstract

This paper reviews the main results obtained by using the technique of Femtosecond Stimulated Raman Spectroscopy (FSRS) to study the photophysics of carotenoids. After a brief presentation of the technique and of its practical implementation, its potentialities in disentangling the very fast relaxation processes occurring upon light absorption in carotenoids are presented. It is shown that the recourse to FSRS allows to clarify the timescale of vibrational energy relaxation in the electronic excited states of these molecules, and to clearly identify the nature of the excited states involved in the photophysics of several naturally occurring pigments, both in solution and when embedded in photosynthetic proteins. © Anita Publications. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Carotenoids, Femtosecond Stimulated Raman Spectroscopy, Internal Vibrational Relaxation.

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