Revealing vibronic coupling in chlorophyll c1 by polarization-controlled 2D electronic spectroscopy

Abstract Vibronic coupling between molecules has been recently discussed to play an important role in photosynthetic functions. Furthermore, this type of coupling between electronic states has been suggested to define photophysical properties of chlorophylls, a family of photosynthetic molecules. However, experimental investigation of vibronic coupling presents a major challenge. One subtle way to study this coupling is by excitation and observation of the superpositions of vibrational states via transitions to vibronically mixed states. Such superpositions, called coherences, are then observed as quantum beats in non-linear spectroscopy experiments. Here we present polarization-controlled two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy study of the chlorophyll c1 molecule at cryogenic (77 K) temperature. By applying complex analysis to the oscillatory signals we are able to unravel vibronic coupling in this molecule. The vibronic mixing picture that we see is much more complex than was thought before.