DENDRIMERS AS LIGHT-HARVESTING ANTENNAE

We consider energy transfer from an initially excited state on a dendr imer to a trap located at its center. The energy transfer process is d ominated by an inherent geometric bias. We propose that dendrimers can serve as efficient artificial antenna systems for light harvesting. B ased on mean first passage time calculations, we demonstrate that the effective rate of capture by the trap depends on the size of the dendr imer, the coordination number, the rates of migration, and the initial condition. The efficiency of the system increases rapidly when an ene rgetic funnel is added, which competes with the geometric bias. (C) 19 98 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.