Two-Dimensional Electronic Spectroscopy Reveals Ultrafast Downhill Energy Transfer in Photosystem I Trimers of the Cyanobacterium Thermosynechococcus elongatus

Ultrafast excited state dynamics in the monomeric and trimeric photosystem I core complex of Spirulina platensis probed by two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy

Photosystem I (PSI), a naturally occurring supercomplex composed of a core part and a light-harvesting antenna, plays an essential role in the photosynthetic electron transfer chain. Evolutionary adaptation dictates a large variability in the type, number, arrangement, and absorption of the Chlorophylls (Chls) responsible for the early steps of light-harvesting and charge separation. For example, the specific location of long-wavelength Chls (referred to as red forms) in the cyanobacterial core has been intensively investigated, but the assignment of the chromophores involved is still controversial. The most red-shifted Chl a form has been observed in the trimer of the PSI core of the cyanobacterium Spirulina platensis, with an absorption centered at ∼740 nm. Here, we apply two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy to study photoexcitation dynamics in isolated trimers and monomers of the PSI core of S. platensis. By means of global analysis, we resolve and compare direct downhill and uphill excitation energy transfer (EET) processes between the bulk Chls and the red forms, observing significant differences between the monomer (lacking the most far red Chl form at 740 nm) and the trimer, with the ultrafast EET component accelerated by five times, from 500 to 100 fs, in the latter. Our findings highlight the complexity of EET dynamics occurring over a broad range of time constants and their sensitivity to energy distribution and arrangement of the cofactors involved. The comparison of monomeric and trimeric forms, differing both in the antenna dimension and in the extent of red forms, enables us to extract significant information regarding PSI functionality.

Two-Dimensional Electronic Spectroscopy of a Minimal Photosystem I Complex Reveals the Rate of Primary Charge Separation

Photosystem I (PSI), found in all oxygenic photosynthetic organisms, uses solar energy to drive electron transport with nearly 100% quantum efficiency, thanks to fast energy transfer among antenna chlorophylls and charge separation in the reaction center. There is no complete consensus regarding the kinetics of the elementary steps involved in the overall trapping, especially the rate of primary charge separation. In this work, we employed two-dimensional coherent electronic spectroscopy to follow the dynamics of energy and electron transfer in a monomeric PSI complex from Synechocystis PCC 6803, containing only subunits A-E, K, and M, at 77 K. We also determined the structure of the complex to 4.3 Å resolution by cryoelectron microscopy with refinements to 2.5 Å. We applied structure-based modeling using a combined Redfield-Förster theory to compute the excitation dynamics. The absorptive 2D electronic spectra revealed fast excitonic/vibronic relaxation on time scales of 50-100 fs from the high-energy side of the absorption spectrum. Antenna excitations were funneled within 1 ps to a small pool of chlorophylls absorbing around 687 nm, thereafter decaying with 4-20 ps lifetimes, independently of excitation wavelength. Redfield-Förster energy transfer computations showed that the kinetics is limited by transfer from these red-shifted pigments. The rate of primary charge separation, upon direct excitation of the reaction center, was determined to be 1.2-1.5 ps^-1. This result implies activationless electron transfer in PSI.

Direct Evidence for Excitation Energy Transfer Limitations Imposed by Low-Energy Chlorophylls in Photosystem I-Light Harvesting Complex I of Land Plants

The overall efficiency of photosynthetic energy conversion depends both on photochemical and excitation energy transfer processes from extended light-harvesting antenna networks. Understanding the trade-offs between increase in the antenna cross section and bandwidth and photochemical conversion efficiency is of central importance both from a biological perspective and for the design of biomimetic artificial photosynthetic complexes. Here, we employ two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy to spectrally resolve the excitation energy transfer dynamics and directly correlate them with the initial site of excitation in photosystem I–light harvesting complex I (PSI-LHCI) supercomplex of land plants, which has both a large antenna dimension and a wide optical bandwidth extending to energies lower than the peak of the reaction center chlorophylls. Upon preferential excitation of the low-energy chlorophylls (red forms), the average relaxation time in the bulk supercomplex increases by a factor of 2–3 with respect to unselective excitation at higher photon energies. This slowdown is interpreted in terms of an excitation energy transfer limitation from low-energy chlorophyll forms in the PSI-LHCI. These results aid in defining the optimum balance between the extension of the antenna bandwidth to the near-infrared region, which increases light-harvesting capacity, and high photoconversion quantum efficiency.

Confronting FCP structure with ultrafast spectroscopy data: evidence for structural variations

Diatoms are a major group of algae, responsible for a quarter of the global primary production on our planet. Their adaptation to marine environments is ensured by their light-harvesting antenna - the fucoxanthin-chlorophyll protein (FCP) complex, which absorbs strongly in the blue-green spectral region. Although these essential proteins have been the subject of many studies, for a long time their comprehensive description was not possible in the absence of structural data. Last year, the 3D structures of several FCP complexes were revealed. The structure of an FCP dimer was resolved by crystallography for the pennate diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum [W. Wang et al., Science, 2019, 363, 6427] and the structure of the PSII supercomplex from the centric diatom Chaetoceros gracilis, containing several FCPs, was obtained by electron microscopy [X. Pi et al., Science, 2019, 365, 6452; R. Nagao et al., Nat. Plants, 2019, 5, 890]. In this Perspective article, we evaluate how precisely these structures may account for previously published ultrafast spectroscopy results, describing the excitation energy transfer in the FCP from another centric diatom Cyclotella meneghiniana. Surprisingly, we find that the published FCP structures cannot explain several observations obtained from ultrafast spectroscopy. Using the available structures, and results from electron microscopy, we construct a trimer-based FCP model for Cyclotella meneghiniana, consistent with ultrafast experimental data. As a whole, our observations suggest that the structures from the proteins belonging to the FCP family display larger variations than the equivalent LHC proteins in plants, which may reflect species-specific adaptations or original strategies for adapting to rapidly changing marine environments.

Leveraging scatter in two-dimensional spectroscopy: passive phase drift correction enables a global phasing protocol

Phase stability between pulse pairs defining Fourier-transform time delays can limit resolution and complicates development and adoption of multidimensional coherent spectroscopies. We demonstrate a data processing procedure to correct the long-term phase drift of the nonlinear signal during two-dimensional (2D) experiments based on the relative phase between scattered excitation pulses and a global phasing procedure to generate fully absorptive 2D electronic spectra of wafer-scale monolayer MoS₂. Our correction results in a ∼30-fold increase in effective long-term signal phase stability, from ∼λ/2 to ∼λ/70 with negligible extra experimental time and no additional optical components. This scatter-based drift correction should be applicable to other interferometric techniques as well, significantly lowering the practical experimental requirements for this class of measurements.

Measuring Ultrafast Spectral Diffusion and Correlation Dynamics by Two-Dimensional Electronic Spectroscopy

The frequency fluctuation correlation function (FFCF) measures the spectral diffusion of a state's transition while the frequency fluctuation cross-correlation function (FXCF) measures the correlation dynamics between the transitions of two separate states. These quantities contain a wealth of information on how the chromophores or excitonic states interact and couple with its environment and with each other. We summarize the experimental implementations and theoretical considerations of using two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy to characterize FFCFs and FXCFs. Applications can be found in systems such as the chlorophyll pigment molecules in light-harvesting complexes and CdSe nanomaterials.

Vibronic Wavepackets and Energy Transfer in Cryptophyte Light-Harvesting Complexes

Determining the key features of high-efficiency photosynthetic energy transfer remains an ongoing task. Recently, there has been evidence for the role of vibronic coherence in linking donor and acceptor states to redistribute oscillator strength for enhanced energy transfer. To gain further insights into the interplay between vibronic wavepackets and energy-transfer dynamics, we systematically compare four structurally related phycobiliproteins from cryptophyte algae by broad-band pump-probe spectroscopy and extend a parametric model based on global analysis to include vibrational wavepacket characterization. The four phycobiliproteins isolated from cryptophyte algae are two "open" structures and two "closed" structures. The closed structures exhibit strong exciton coupling in the central dimer. The dominant energy-transfer pathway occurs on the subpicosecond timescale across the largest energy gap in each of the proteins, from central to peripheral chromophores. All proteins exhibit a strong 1585 cm^-1 coherent oscillation whose relative amplitude, a measure of vibronic intensity borrowing from resonance between donor and acceptor states, scales with both energy-transfer rates and damping rates. Central exciton splitting may aid in bringing the vibronically linked donor and acceptor states into better resonance resulting in the observed doubled rate in the closed structures. Several excited-state vibrational wavepackets persist on timescales relevant to energy transfer, highlighting the importance of further investigation of the interplay between electronic coupling and nuclear degrees of freedom in studies on high-efficiency photosynthesis.

Excitation transfer and trapping kinetics in plant photosystem I probed by two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy

Photosystem I is a robust and highly efficient biological solar engine. Its capacity to utilize virtually every absorbed photon's energy in a photochemical reaction generates great interest in the kinetics and mechanisms of excitation energy transfer and charge separation. In this work, we have employed room-temperature coherent two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy and time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy to follow exciton equilibration and excitation trapping in intact Photosystem I complexes as well as core complexes isolated from Pisum sativum. We performed two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy measurements with low excitation pulse energies to record excited-state kinetics free from singlet-singlet annihilation. Global lifetime analysis resolved energy transfer and trapping lifetimes closely matches the time-correlated single-photon counting data. Exciton energy equilibration in the core antenna occurred on a timescale of 0.5 ps. We further observed spectral equilibration component in the core complex with a 3-4 ps lifetime between the bulk Chl states and a state absorbing at 700 nm. Trapping in the core complex occurred with a 20 ps lifetime, which in the supercomplex split into two lifetimes, 16 ps and 67-75 ps. The experimental data could be modelled with two alternative models resulting in equally good fits-a transfer-to-trap-limited model and a trap-limited model. However, the former model is only possible if the 3-4 ps component is ascribed to equilibration with a "red" core antenna pool absorbing at 700 nm. Conversely, if these low-energy states are identified with the P700 reaction centre, the transfer-to-trap-model is ruled out in favour of a trap-limited model.

Ultrafast energy transfer within the photosystem II core complex

We report 2D electronic spectroscopy on the photosystem II core complex (PSII CC) at 77 K under different polarization conditions. A global analysis of the high time-resolution 2D data shows rapid, sub-100 fs energy transfer within the PSII CC. It also reveals the 2D spectral signatures of slower energy equilibration processes occurring on several to hundreds of picosecond time scales that are consistent with previous work. Using a recent structure-based model of the PSII CC [Y. Shibata, S. Nishi, K. Kawakami, J. R. Shen and T. Renger, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2013, 135, 6903], we simulate the energy transfer in the PSII CC by calculating auxiliary time-resolved fluorescence spectra. We obtain the observed sub-100 fs evolution, even though the calculated electronic energy shows almost no dynamics at early times. On the other hand, the electronic-vibrational interaction energy increases considerably over the same time period. We conclude that interactions with vibrational degrees of freedom not only induce population transfer between the excitonic states in the PSII CC, but also reshape the energy landscape of the system. We suggest that the experimentally observed ultrafast energy transfer is a signature of excitonic-polaron formation.

Recent advances in multidimensional ultrafast spectroscopy

Multidimensional ultrafast spectroscopies are one of the premier tools to investigate condensed phase dynamics of biological, chemical and functional nanomaterial systems. As they reach maturity, the variety of frequency domains that can be explored has vastly increased, with experimental techniques capable of correlating excitation and emission frequencies from the terahertz through to the ultraviolet. Some of the most recent innovations also include extreme cross-peak spectroscopies that directly correlate the dynamics of electronic and vibrational states. This review article summarizes the key technological advances that have permitted these recent advances, and the insights gained from new multidimensional spectroscopic probes.

Post-processing phase-correction algorithm in two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy

In a typical two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy (2DES) experiment, the timing errors of the coherence and emission time when determining the absolute time zeros usually introduce extraneous spectral phase slopes and distort the 2D spectrum. In this work, a phase-correction method that merely relies on the data post-processing algorithm is proposed. The method allows reconstructing the spectrum by simply subtracting the artificial linear spectral-phase slopes from the phase component of the 2D spectrum along both coherence and emission frequency axes. The new method has the advantages of ease of implementation and no need for the supplementary experiments and iterative fitting algorithm as commonly-used phasing methods, which may improve the phasing issue in 2DES and serve as a cross-check of now available phasing methods.

Precise phase determination with the built-in spectral interferometry in two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy

A new method determining the precise phase of pulse sequences in two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy (2DES) is proposed merely using the already built-in spectral interferometry. The approach is easily implemented without the supplementary instrumental construction, only at the expense of a few additional scanning and data-fitting processes. This method is executed with the sample in place, effectively avoiding the phase ambiguities of the beam propagation in samples, thus calibrating the absolute phase at the exact interaction region. The new proposed method is expected to improve the phasing procedure in 2DES in a more convenient way.

Two-Dimensional Electronic-Vibrational Spectroscopy of Chlorophyll a and b

We present two-dimensional electronic-vibrational (2DEV) spectra of isolated chlorophyll a and b in deuterated ethanol. We excite the Q-band electronic transitions and measure the effects on the carbonyl and C ═ C double-bond stretch region of the infrared spectrum. With the aid of density functional theory calculations, we provide assignments for the major features of the spectrum. We show how the 2DEV spectra can be used to readily distinguish different solvation states of the chlorophyll, with features corresponding to the minority pentacoordinate magnesium (Mg) species being resolved along each dimension of the 2DEV spectra from the dominant hexacoordinate Mg species. These assignments represent a crucial first step toward the application of 2DEV spectroscopy to chlorophyll-containing pigment-protein complexes.

Pathways of energy transfer in LHCII revealed by room-temperature 2D electronic spectroscopy

We present here the first room-temperature 2D electronic spectroscopy study of energy transfer in the plant light-harvesting complex II, LHCII. Two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy has been used to study energy transfer dynamics in LHCII trimers from the chlorophyll b Qy band to the chlorophyll a Qy band. Observing cross-peak regions corresponding to couplings between different excitonic states reveals partially resolved fine structure at the exciton level that cannot be isolated by pump-probe or linear spectroscopy measurements alone. Global analysis of the data has been performed to identify the pathways and time constants of energy transfer. The measured waiting time (Tw) dependent 2D spectra are found to be composed of 2D decay-associated spectra with three timescales (0.3 ps, 2.3 ps and >20 ps). Direct and multistep cascading pathways from the high-energy chlorophyll b states to the lowest-energy chlorophyll a states have been resolved occurring on time scales of hundreds of femtoseconds to picoseconds.

Role of thermal excitation in ultrafast energy transfer in chlorosomes revealed by two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy

Two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy reveals the role of thermal excitation in excitation energy transfer in chlorosomes.

Probing energy transfer events in the light harvesting complex 2 (LH2) of Rhodobacter sphaeroides with two-dimensional spectroscopy

Excitation energy transfer events in the photosynthetic light harvesting complex 2 (LH2) of Rhodobacter sphaeroides are investigated with polarization controlled two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy. A spectrally broadened pulse allows simultaneous measurement of the energy transfer within and between the two absorption bands at 800 nm and 850 nm. The phased all-parallel polarization two-dimensional spectra resolve the initial events of energy transfer by separating the intra-band and inter-band relaxation processes across the two-dimensional map. The internal dynamics of the 800 nm region of the spectra are resolved as a cross peak that grows in on an ultrafast time scale, reflecting energy transfer between higher lying excitations of the B850 chromophores into the B800 states. We utilize a polarization sequence designed to highlight the initial excited state dynamics which uncovers an ultrafast transfer component between the two bands that was not observed in the all-parallel polarization data. We attribute the ultrafast transfer component to energy transfer from higher energy exciton states to lower energy states of the strongly coupled B850 chromophores. Connecting the spectroscopic signature to the molecular structure, we reveal multiple relaxation pathways including a cyclic transfer of energy between the two rings of the complex.

Coherent Oscillations in Chlorosome Elucidated by Two-Dimensional Electronic Spectroscopy

Chlorosomes are the most efficient photosynthetic light-harvesting complexes found in nature and consist of many bacteriochlorophyll (BChl) molecules self-assembled into supramolecular aggregates. Here we elucidate the presence and the origin of coherent oscillations in chlorosome at cryogenic temperature using 2D electronic spectroscopy. We observe coherent oscillations of multiple frequencies superimposed on the ultrafast amplitude decay of 2D spectra. Comparison of oscillatory features in the rephasing and nonrephasing 2D spectra suggests that an oscillation of 620 cm(-1) frequency arises from electronic coherence. However, this coherent oscillation can be enhanced by vibronic coupling with intermolecular vibrations of BChl aggregate, and thus it might originate from vibronic coherence rather than pure electronic coherence. Although the 620 cm(-1) oscillation dephases rapidly, the electronic (or vibronic) coherence may still take part in the initial step of energy transfer in chlorosome, which is comparably fast.

Coherent multidimensional optical spectra measured using incoherent light

Four-wave mixing measurements can reveal spectral and dynamics information that is hidden in linear spectra by the interactions among light-absorbing molecules and with their environment. Coherent multidimensional optical spectroscopy is an important variant of four-wave mixing because it resolves a map of interactions and correlations between absorption bands. Previous coherent multidimensional optical spectroscopy measurements have used femtosecond pulses with great success, and it may seem that femtosecond pulses are necessary for such measurements. Here we present coherent two-dimensional electronic spectra measured using incoherent light. The spectra of model molecular systems using broadband spectrally incoherent light are similar but not identical to those expected from measurements using femtosecond pulses. Specifically, the spectra show particular sensitivity to long-lived intermediates such as photoisomers. The results will motivate the design of similar experiments in spectral ranges where femtosecond pulses are difficult to produce.

Dispersion-free continuum two-dimensional electronic spectrometer

Electronic dynamics span broad energy scales with ultrafast time constants in the condensed phase. Two-dimensional (2D) electronic spectroscopy permits the study of these dynamics with simultaneous resolution in both frequency and time. In practice, this technique is sensitive to changes in nonlinear dispersion in the laser pulses as time delays are varied during the experiment. We have developed a 2D spectrometer that uses broadband continuum generated in argon as the light source. Using this visible light in phase-sensitive optical experiments presents new challenges in implementation. We demonstrate all-reflective interferometric delays using angled stages. Upon selecting an ~180  nm window of the available bandwidth at ~10  fs compression, we probe the nonlinear response of broadly absorbing CdSe quantum dots and electronic transitions of Chlorophyll a.

Pulse shaping based two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy in a background free geometry

We demonstrate a "drop-in" modification of the pulse-shaped pump-probe geometry two-dimensional Fourier transform spectrometer that significantly improves its performance by making the measurement background-free. The modification uses a hybrid diffractive optic/pulse-shaping approach that combines the advantages of background-free detection with the precise timing and phase-cycling capabilities enabled by pulse-shaping. In addition, we present a simple new method for accurate phasing of optically heterodyned two-dimensional spectra. We demonstrate the high quality of data obtainable with this approach by reporting two-dimensional Fourier transform electronic spectra of chlorophyll a in glycerol/water at 77 K.

Two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy for mapping molecular photophysics

We demonstrate the ability of two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy (2DES) to map ultrafast energy transfer and dynamics in two systems: the pigment–protein complex photosystem I (PSI) and aggregates of the conjugated polymer poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT). A detailed description of our experimental set-up and data processing procedure is also given.