title: Model of ultrafast intersystem crossing in photoexcited transition-metal organic compounds.
abstract: The mechanism behind fast intersystem crossing in transition-metal complexes is shown to be a result of the dephasing of the photoexcited state to the phonon continuum of a different state with a significantly different transition metal-ligand distance. The coupling is a result of the spin-orbit interaction causing a change in the local moment. A recurrence to the initial state is prevented by the damping of the phonon oscillation. The decay time is faster than the oscillation frequency of the transition metal-ligand stretch mode, in agreement with experiment. For energies above the region where the strongest coupling occurs, a slower "leakage-type" decay is observed. If the photoexcited state is lower in energy than the state it couples to, then there is no decay.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Northern Illinois University, De Kalb, Illinois 60115, USA.
authors.forename: Michel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: van Veenendaal
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Fedro