Ultrafast solvent dynamics: Connection between time resolved fluorescence and optical Kerr measurements

Abstract

The vibrational characteristics of liquid dynamics are used to describe the ultrafast relaxations observed in time-dependent fluorescence Stokes shift [J. Chem. Phys. 95, 4715 (1991)] and heterodyne detected optical Kerr effect measurements on acetonitrile, via a Brownian oscillator model. Introducing a frequency distribution of vibrational modes makes it possible to compare the two experiments. The ultrafast decays observed in the fluorescence Stokes shift and optical Kerr signals are produced by destructive superposition of the high frequency, underdamped modes.