Variation of Exciton-Vibrational Coupling in Photosystem II Core Complexes from Thermosynechococcus elongatus as revealed by Single-Molecule Spectroscopy

  • Sepideh Skandary
  • , Martin Hussels
  • , Alexander Konrad
  • , Thomas Renger
  • , Frank Müh
  • , M. Bommer
  • , A. Zouni
  • , Alfred J. Meixner
  • , Marc Brecht

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The spectral properties and dynamics of the fluorescence emission of photosystem II core complexes are investigated by single-molecule spectroscopy at 1.6 K. The emission spectra are dominated by sharp zero-phonon lines (ZPLs). The sharp ZPLs are the result of weak to intermediate exciton-vibrational coupling and slow spectral diffusion. For several data sets, it is possible to surpass the effect of spectral diffusion by applying a shifting algorithm. The increased signal-to-noise ratio enables us to determine the exciton-vibrational coupling strength (HuangRhys factor) with high precision. The Huang-Rhys factors vary between 0.03 and 0.8. The values of the Huang-Rhys factors show no obvious correlation between coupling strength and wavelength position. From this result, we conclude that electrostatic rather than exchange or dispersive interactions are the main contributors to the exciton-vibrational coupling in this system.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)4203-4210
Number of pages8
JournalThe Journal of Physical Chemistry B
Volume119
Issue number11
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 19 Mar 2015

Fields of science

  • 103 Physics, Astronomy
  • 103015 Condensed matter
  • 103025 Quantum mechanics
  • 106006 Biophysics
  • 103036 Theoretical physics
  • 104017 Physical chemistry

JKU Focus areas

  • Nano-, Bio- and Polymer-Systems: From Structure to Function
  • Engineering and Natural Sciences (in general)

Cite this