Self-assembled aggregates of carotenoids are relevant to biology, and are intriguing systems for studies of the singlet fission mechanism. Transient absorption and time-resolved resonance Raman spectroscopy have been useful in our studies of carotenoid aggregates, and indicate that singlet fission leads to sub-picosecond formation of triplet excited states in high yields. However, the complexity of the aggregates has hampered a full understanding of their photophysics and spectroscopy. Our more recent studies of covalently-bound carotenoid dimers show that singlet fission causes the formation of triplet excited states with yields that can exceed 100%. Importantly, the simplified spectroscopy of the dimers facilitates the interpretation of their photophysics. The lessons learned from the dimers allow a greater understanding of singlet fission within the aggregates.

Photophysics of self-assembled carotenoid aggregates

251st National Meeting (2016)

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