Vibrational energy relaxation, or vibrational population relaxation, is a process in which the population distribution of
molecule
A molecule is a group of two or more atoms that are held together by Force, attractive forces known as chemical bonds; depending on context, the term may or may not include ions that satisfy this criterion. In quantum physics, organic chemi ...
s in
quantum state
In quantum physics, a quantum state is a mathematical entity that embodies the knowledge of a quantum system. Quantum mechanics specifies the construction, evolution, and measurement of a quantum state. The result is a prediction for the system ...
s of
high energy level caused by an external perturbation returns to the
Maxwell–Boltzmann distribution
In physics (in particular in statistical mechanics), the Maxwell–Boltzmann distribution, or Maxwell(ian) distribution, is a particular probability distribution named after James Clerk Maxwell and Ludwig Boltzmann.
It was first defined and use ...
.
In
solution
Solution may refer to:
* Solution (chemistry), a mixture where one substance is dissolved in another
* Solution (equation), in mathematics
** Numerical solution, in numerical analysis, approximate solutions within specified error bounds
* Solu ...
, the process proceeds with intra- and intermolecular
energy
Energy () is the physical quantity, quantitative physical property, property that is transferred to a physical body, body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of Work (thermodynamics), work and in the form of heat and l ...
transfer. The excess energy of the excited vibrational mode is transferred to the kinetic modes in the same molecule or to the surrounding molecules. Through this process, the initially excited vibrational mode moves to a vibrational state of a lower energy. The relaxation is called the longitudinal relaxation, and the time constant of the relaxation is called the longitudinal relaxation time, or ''T''
1.
Vibrational energy relaxation has been studied with
time-resolved spectroscopy. By the excitation of the pump pulse, the population distribution of the vibrationally excited state is made by
infrared absorption or a
Raman process when the molecule is in the electronic
ground state
The ground state of a quantum-mechanical system is its stationary state of lowest energy; the energy of the ground state is known as the zero-point energy of the system. An excited state is any state with energy greater than the ground state ...
. In addition, by the electronic transition, the molecule often moves to the vibrationally excited state of the electronic excited state. The process of the energy relaxation from these vibrationally excited states can be observed with the probe pulse, which is delayed from the pump pulse.
References
*
Molecular physics
Vibrational spectroscopy
Emission spectroscopy
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