Fluorescence spectroscopic properties analysed within the extended Förster theory with application to...

The extended Förster theory (EFT) of electronic energy transport accounts for translational and rotational dynamics, which are neglected by the classical Förster theory (FT). EFT has been developed for electronic energy transfer within donor-acceptor pairs [Isaksson, et al, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 9, 1941(2007)] and donor-donor pairs [Johansson, et al, J. Chem. Phys., 105, 10896 (1996); Norlin, et al, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 10, 6962(2008)]. For donors that exhibit different or identical non-exponential fluorescence relaxation within a donor-donor pair, the process of reverberating energy migration is reversible to a higher or lower degree. Here the impact of the EFT has been studied with respect to its influence on fluorescence quantum yields, fluorescence lifetimes as well as depolarisation experiments. The FT predicts relative fluorescence quantum yields which usually agree with the EFT within experimental accuracy, however, substantial deviations occurs in the steady-state and in particular the time-resolved depolarisation data.