Magnetic Field Effect on Picosecond Electron Transfer
P. Gilch,
F. Pöllinger-Dammer,
C. Musewald,
M. E. Michel-Beyerle,
*
U.
E. Steiner
The recombination dynamics of a transition metal redox system
monitored by femtosecond pump-probe spectroscopy are shown to be
sensitive to high magnetic fields at times shorter than 10 picoseconds.
The effect, based on coherent population beats of different spin
states, is quantitatively accounted for and allows direct access to
spin relaxation rates far beyond the time resolution of the fastest
electron paramagnetic resonance technique. The presence of this
ultrafast magnetic field effect helps in understanding complex reaction
schemes in transition metal chemistry, which occur in a wide range of
fields, such as bioinorganic chemistry and catalysis.
P. Gilch, F. Pöllinger-Dammer, C. Musewald, M. E. Michel-Beyerle, Institut für Physikalische und Theoretische
Chemie, Technische Universität München, D-85748 Garching,
Germany. U. E. Steiner, Fakultät für Chemie,
Universität Konstanz, D-78434 Konstanz, Germany.
*
To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail:
mibe{at}zentrum.phys.chemie.tu-muenchen.de
