OPTICAL CONTROL OF PHOTOGENERATED ION-PAIR LIFETIMES - AN APPROACH TOA MOLECULAR SWITCH

A prototype molecular switch is demonstrated that works on the princip le that the local electric field produced by one photogenerated ion pa ir (D-1(+)-A(1)(-)) can influence the rate constants for photoinduced electron transfer and recombination in a second donor-acceptor pair (A (2)-D-2). Two ultrafast laser pulses were used to control the rate of a photoinduced electron transfer reaction within a molecule that consi sts of two covalently linked electron donor-acceptor pairs fixed in a linear structure, D-1-A(1)-A(2)-D-2. This type of molecular architectu re may lead to the development of electronic devices that function on the molecular length scale.