A simple generalization of the energy gap law for nonradiative processes

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Author: Jang, Seogjoo J.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2021
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author Jang, Seogjoo J.
author_facet Jang, Seogjoo J.
contents For more than 50 years, an elegant energy gap (EG) law developed by Englman and Jortner [Mol. Phys. {\bf 18}, 145 (1970)] has served as a key theory to understand and model nearly exponential dependence of nonradiative transition rates on the difference of energy between the initial and final states. This work revisits the theory, clarifies key assumptions involved in the rate expression, and provides a generalization for the cases where the effects of temperature dependence and low frequency modes cannot be ignored. For a specific example where the low frequency vibrational and/or solvation responses can be modeled as an Ohmic spectral density, a simple generalization of the EG law is provided. Test calculations demonstrate that this generalized EG law brings significant improvement over the original EG law. Both the original and generalized EG laws are also compared with stationary phase approximations developed for electron transfer theory, which suggests the possibility of a simple interpolation formula valid for any value of EG.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2110_09464
institution arXiv
publishDate 2021
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle A simple generalization of the energy gap law for nonradiative processes
Jang, Seogjoo J.
Quantum Physics
Materials Science
Biological Physics
Chemical Physics
For more than 50 years, an elegant energy gap (EG) law developed by Englman and Jortner [Mol. Phys. {\bf 18}, 145 (1970)] has served as a key theory to understand and model nearly exponential dependence of nonradiative transition rates on the difference of energy between the initial and final states. This work revisits the theory, clarifies key assumptions involved in the rate expression, and provides a generalization for the cases where the effects of temperature dependence and low frequency modes cannot be ignored. For a specific example where the low frequency vibrational and/or solvation responses can be modeled as an Ohmic spectral density, a simple generalization of the EG law is provided. Test calculations demonstrate that this generalized EG law brings significant improvement over the original EG law. Both the original and generalized EG laws are also compared with stationary phase approximations developed for electron transfer theory, which suggests the possibility of a simple interpolation formula valid for any value of EG.
title A simple generalization of the energy gap law for nonradiative processes
topic Quantum Physics
Materials Science
Biological Physics
Chemical Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2110.09464