Electronic State-Resolved Electron-Phonon Coupling in an Organic Charge Transfer Material from Broadband Quantum Beat...

The coupling of electron and lattice phonon motion plays a fundamental role in the properties of functional organic charge-transfer materials. In this Letter we extend the use of ultrafast vibrational quantum beat spectroscopy to directly elucidate electron-phonon coupling in an organic charge-transfer material. As a case study, we compare the oscillatory components of the transient reflection (TR) of a broadband probe pulse from single crystals of quinhydrone, a 1:1 cocrystal of hydroquinone and p-benzoquinone, after exciting nonresonant impulsive stimulated Raman scattering and resonant electronic transitions using ultrafast pulses. Spontaneous resonance Raman spectra confirm the assignment of these oscillations as coherent lattice phonon excitations. Fourier transforms of the vibrational quantum beats in our broadband TR measurements allow construction of spectra that we show report the ability of these phonons to directly modulate the electronic structure of quinhydrone. These results demonstrate how coherent ultrafast processes can characterize the complex interplay of charge transfer and lattice motion in materials of fundamental relevance to chemistry, materials sciences, and condensed matter physics.