| Autor: |
Leong TX; Department of Chemistry, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana 70118, USA., Qasim LN; Department of Chemistry, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana 70118, USA., Mackin RT; Department of Chemistry, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana 70118, USA., Du Y; Department of Chemistry, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana 70118, USA., Pascal RA Jr; Department of Chemistry, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana 70118, USA., Rubtsov IV; Department of Chemistry, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana 70118, USA. |
| Abstrakt: |
We discovered a way to funnel high-frequency vibrational quanta rapidly and unidirectionally over large distances using oligo(p-phenylene) chains. After mid-IR photon photoexcitation of a -COOH end group, the excess energy is injected efficiently into the chain, forming vibrational wavepackets that propagate freely along the chain. The transport delivers high-energy vibrational quanta with a range of transport speeds reaching 8.6 km/s, which exceeds the speed of sound in common metals (∼5 km/s) and polymers (∼2 km/s). Efficiencies of energy injection into the chain and transport along the chain are found to be very high and dependent on the extent of conjugation across the structure. By tuning the degree of conjugation via electronic doping of the chain, the transport speed and efficiency can be controlled. The study opens avenues for developing materials with controllable energy transport properties for heat management, schemes with efficient energy delivery to hard-to-reach regions, including transport against thermal gradients, and ways for initiating chemical reactions remotely. |
