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Incoherent Energy Transfer

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Theoretical Molecular Biophysics

Abstract

In this chapter, we study the transfer of energy from an excited donor molecule to an acceptor molecule. We discuss different mechanisms involving electron exchange, simultaneous radiationless deexcitation and excitation or photon emission followed by reabsorption. Using a simplified MO model, we calculate the coupling matrix element of the Coulomb interaction in dipole approximation and evaluate the famous Förster expression for the transition rate. Within the Condon approximation, the overlap of donor emission and acceptor absorption spectra becomes an essential factor. Finally, we comment on energy transfer in the triplet state.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    a detailed discussion of the relationships between absorption cross section and Einstein coefficients is found in [125].

  2. 2.

    Note the sign change which appears since we now have to average over the excited state vibrations.

  3. 3.

    we assume that the wavefunction of the pair can be factorized approximately.

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Correspondence to Philipp O. J. Scherer .

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Scherer, P.O.J., Fischer, S.F. (2017). Incoherent Energy Transfer. In: Theoretical Molecular Biophysics. Biological and Medical Physics, Biomedical Engineering. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-55671-9_24

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-55671-9_24

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-662-55670-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-662-55671-9

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