Photochemistry Flashcards
What does photo-induced chemistry require?
absorption of electromagnetic radiation
What does a strong absorption involve
interaction of electric field (epsilon) of electromagnetic radiation with trasition dipole moment (u) of atom or molecule
- electric dipole transition
How much weaker are electric quadrupole and magnetic dipole transitions compared to electric dipole transitions?
~ 6 orders of magnitude
What occurs during an electric dipole transition?
In the presence of electromagnetic radiation a molecule experiences a perturbation described by the dipolar interaction
What is the condition for two states Y1 and Y2 being connected by an electric dipole allowed transition?
If the matrix element integral does not equal zero
What assumptions are used (generally) in photochemistry? (2)
- molecular dimensions are far smaller than wavelength of the photon inducing the transition
- Interaction is weak (first order perturbation theory)
Within the BO approximation, total wavefunction be written as a product of what 2 components?
electronic and vibrational parts
Which part of the total wavefunction does the transtion dipole operate on?
Electric part
Electronic transitions are often accompanied by…
a change in vibrational state
What is the Franck-Condon factor?
square of vibrational overlap integrals
What does the vibrational structure accompanying an electronic transition depend on?
Franck-Condon factor
Which two types of electronic transitions in molecules are very weak, appearing near-UV?
Non-bonding to anti-bonding transitions
Which transitions in molecules are strongly allowed and cause intense absorptions in deep UV?
bonding to anti-bonding
What are Rydberg orbitals
Rydberg orbitals are spatially diffuse ‘atomic’ like orbitals with high energies which form hydrogenic-like series converging to ionisation limit
What is B12
B12 is the Einstein B-coefficient for absorption and for a given transition is related to molar absorption coefficient
What is A21
A21 is the Einstein A-coefficient for spontaneous emission
What is B21
B21 is the Einstein B-coefficient for stimulated emission
What is the requirement for stimulated emission
Photon of correct frequency to match energy gap of transition; two photons of the same frequency and directionality emitted for conversion of energy
What are all of the possible decay routes for an electronically excited state (8)
- Fluorescence (delta S = 0) (radiative)
- Phosphorescence (delta S =/ 0) (radiative)
- Stimulated emission
- Internal conversion (delta S = 0, radiationless)
- Intersystem crossing (radiationless, delta S =/ 0)
- Isomerisation
- Dissociation
- Collisional relaxation / quenching
Describe direct photodissociation
Excited molecule dissociates in <1 vibrational period giving a Gaussian like absorption spectrum
What is predissociation
When a molecule is photoexcited to a state that is bound with respect to excited state products but is at energy above lowest dissociation limit, the excited molecule undergoes 1+ vibration in bound excited state before radiationless transfer to repulsive potential. This gives a structured absorption spectrum
What does the appearance of a spectrum involving predissociation depend on?
Rate/lifetime
How does lifetime broadening occur?
From energy-time form of uncertainty principle, uncertainty gives an estimate of FWHM linewidth
What is Doppler Broadening?
Doppler Broadening arises as a result of rotational fine structure and this makes a bigger contribution to line width than lifetime broadening
What is the requirement for lasing
population inversion which ensures gain (amplification) not loss (absorption) of radiation. Also requires optical feedback achieved by placing mirrors (an optical cavity) around lasing medium
What is an excimer laser?
an excimer laser is a gas laser employing molecules whose ground state is unbound but have strongly bound excited states with essentially ionic bonding eg Ar+ F-
-excited molecules are formed in electric discharge
Give two examples of rare gas-halogen mixtures supporting lasing action at UV Vis and give their wavelengths
XeCl (308 nm)
KrF (248 nm)
Why are dye lasers good
They have tuneable radiation