Figure 2. A decorated polymer with engineered energy flow between donor and acceptor moieties.We also investigate the molecular characteristics
that affect electronic dynamics in small molecules. These studies
combine spectroscopy and computation to identify the chemical properties
that control electronic relaxation dynamics. By working with small
molecules, we are able to clearly demonstrate the microscopic mechanisms
that control electronic processes. Results from these studies can then
inform our work on polymeric systems and bulk materials.
Another
project applies computational tools to investigate the role of quantum
mechanics in energy transport in organic photovoltaics. Recent
experimental results demonstrate that excitations in polymer-based solar
cells travel more quickly through the materials than purely classical
mechanisms predict. We will apply quantum mechanical models to
investigate whether quantum mechanisms can explain these results.
Selected Publications“Ultrafast Energy Transfer from Rigid, Branched Side-Chains into a Conjugated, Alternating Copolymer”,
G.B. Griffin, P.M. Lundin, B.S. Rolczynski, A. Linkin, Z. Bao, and G.S. Engel, The Journal of Chemical Physics (2014) 140, 034903.
Link“Engineering Coherence Among Excited States in Synthetic Heterodimer Systems”, D. Hayes,
G.B. Griffin, and G.S. Engel, Science (2013) 340, 1431.
Link“Inhomogenous Dephasing Masks Excitonic Coherence Lifetimes in Ensemble Measurements”, K.M. Pelzer,
G.B. Griffin, S.K. Gray, and G.S. Engel, The Journal of Chemical Physics (2012) 136, 164508.
Link Professional Society Memberships- American Chemical Society