Millimeter wave imaging lens antenna

The factors which influence the design of lenses suitable for imaging at millimetre wavelengths are discussed. Examples are given of optical designs for a military tracking application, firstly for use with an open ended waveguide array, and secondly for use with monolithic arrays, each covering a field of view of ±20°.     

Difference frequency generation in proustite from 11 to 23 μm

Tunable infrared radiation was produced in the spectral range 11 μm to 23 μm by nonlinear mixing of two ruby-pumped dye lasers in proustite. A peak power of about 3 watts was observed at 19 μm. A 7^o crystal angle was sufficient to achieve phase matching over the entire wavelength range. Ordinary wave absorption measurements in proustite correlate well with the observed difference frequency output, once allowance has been made for the convergence of the dye laser beams. This research was supported by the Energy Research Development Agency under contract E29-2-3597 and by the Office of Naval Research contract No. N00014-76-C-0431.     

Contrasting picosecond photokinetics of CoII and CoIII porphyrins verify excited-state predictions

Using picosecond transient absorption techniques, we have different low-lying excited states for several Co^II and Co^III porphyrins. These differences are interpreted in terms of theoretical calculations that predict the lowest-energy excited states to be ²(π·d) in Co^II and ³(d, d) in Co^III.     

Solid-state NMR spectra and long intradimer bonds in the pi-[TCNE]22- dianion

The principal (13)C chemical-shift values for the pi-[TCNE](2)(2-) dimer anion within an array of counterions have been measured to understand better the electronic structure of these atypical chemical species in several related TCNE-based structures. The structure of pi-[TCNE](2)(2-) is unusual as it contains two very long C-C bond lengths (ca. 2.9 Angstroms) between the two monomeric units and has been found to exist as a singlet state, suggestive of a (1)A(1g) (b(2u)(2)b(1g)(0)) electronic configuration. A systematic study of several oxidation states of [TCNE](n) (n = 0, 1-, 2-) was conducted to determine how the NMR chemical-shift tensor values change as a function of electronic structure and to understand the interactions that lead to spin-pairing of the monomer units. The density functional theory (DFT) calculated nuclear shielding tensors are correlated with the experimentally determined principal chemical-shift values. Such theoretical methods provide information on the tensor magnitudes and orientations of their principal tensor components with respect to the molecular frame. Both theoretical and experimental ethylenic chemical-shielding tensors reveal high sensitivity in the component, delta(perpendicular), lying in the monomer molecular plane and perpendicular to the pi-electron plane. This largest shift dependence on charge density is observed to be about -111 ppm/e(-) for delta(perpendicular). The component in the molecular plane but parallel to the central C=C bond, delta(parallel), exhibits a sensitivity of approximately -43 ppm/e(-). However, the out-of-plane component delta'(perpendicular) shows a minimal dependence of -2.6 ppm/e(-) on the oxidation state (n) of [TCNE](n). These relative values support the claim that it is changes within the ethylenic pi-electrons and not the sigma-electrons that best account for the dramatic variations in bonding and shift tensors in this series of compounds. Concerning the intraion bonding, relatively weak Wiberg bond orders between the two monomeric components of the dimer correlate with the long bonds linking the two [TCNE(*)](-) monomers. The chemical-shift tensors for the cyano group, compared to the ethylene shifts, exhibit a reduced sensitivity on the TCNE oxidation state. The experimental principal chemical-shift components agree (within typical errors) with the calculated quantum mechanical shieldings used to correlate the bonding. The embedded ion model (EIM) was used to investigate the typically large electrostatic lattice potential in these ionic materials. Chemical-shielding principal values calculated with the EIM model differ from experiment by +/-3.82 ppm on average, whereas in the absence of an electrostatic field model, the experimental and theoretical results agree by +/-4.42 ppm, which is only a modest increase in error considering the overall ionic magnitudes associated with the tensor variations. Apparently, the effects of the sizable long-range electrostatic fields cancel when the shifts are computed because of lattice symmetry.     

Synthesis and excited-state photodynamics of a chlorin-bacteriochlorin dyad--through-space versus through-bond energy transfer in tetrapyrrole arrays.

Understanding energy transfer among hydroporphyrins is of fundamental interest and essential for a wide variety of photochemical applications. Toward this goal, a synthetic free base ethynylphenylchlorin has been coupled with a synthetic free base bromobacteriochlorin to give a phenylethyne-linked chlorin-bacteriochlorin dyad (FbC-pe-FbB). The chlorin and bacteriochlorin are each stable toward adventitious oxidation because of the presence of a geminal dimethyl group in each reduced pyrrole ring. A combination of static and transient optical spectroscopic studies indicate that excitation into the Qy band of the chlorin constituent (675 nm) of FbC-pe-FbB in toluene results in rapid energy transfer to the bacteriochlorin constituent with a rate of approximately (5 ps)(-1) and efficiency of >99%. The excited bacteriochlorin resulting from the energy-transfer process in FbC-pe-FbB has essentially the same fluorescence characteristics as an isolated monomeric reference compound, namely a narrow (12 nm fwhm) fluorescence emission band at 760 nm and a long-lived (5.4 ns) Qy excited state that exhibits a significant fluorescence quantum yield (Phif=0.19). F?rster calculations are consistent with energy transfer in FbC-pe-FbB occurring predominantly by a through-space mechanism. The energy-transfer characteristics of FbC-pe-FbB are compared with those previously obtained for analogous phenylethyne-linked dyads consisting of two porphyrins or two oxochlorins. The comparisons among the sets of dyads are facilitated by density functional theory calculations that elucidate the molecular-orbital characteristics of the energy donor and acceptor constituents. The electron-density distributions in the frontier molecular orbitals provide insights into the through-bond electronic interactions that can also contribute to the energy-transfer process in the different types of dyads.     

Photophysical characterization of imidazolium-substituted Pd(II), In(III), and Zn(II) porphyrins as photosensitizers for photodynamic therapy

The photophysical properties of four imidazolium-substituted metalloporphyrins have been assessed to gain insights into the relative efficacy of the compounds for photodynamic therapy (PDT). A set of zinc(II), palladium(II), and chloro-indium(III) porphyrins all bear a net positive charge owing to the diethylimidazolium unit; one zinc chelate bears a negative charge owing to a bis(sulfobutyl)imidazolium unit. The photophysical properties of the cationic and anionic zinc porphyrins are very similar to one another in organic solvents, phosphate-buffered saline, and in the presence of bovine serum albumin. The properties of the zinc and palladium porphyrins bearing charged peripheral groups are generally similar to those of neutral analogs in organic solvents. The palladium porphyrin shows an essentially quantitative yield (≥0.99) of the triplet excited state compared to the zinc porphyrins (0.9), and all are quantitatively quenched (at the diffusion limit) by molecular oxygen in air-saturated fluid solution. If the rate constant and yield of quenching of the triplet excited state by energy or electron transfer to molecular oxygen is the same in the cellular environment as in solution, then these processes combined with the triplet yield contribute only a factor of 1.3 to the higher PDT activity of analogous palladium versus zinc porphyrins, which is much smaller than what is observed. Therefore, other factors such as transient reduction of the excited porphyrin or delivery to the target site must predominantly underlie the difference in PDT efficacy of these sensitizers.     

Photophysics of reduced silicon tetraphenylporphyrin

The contrasting photophysical properties of two silicon (IV) tetraphenylporphyrins, Si(TPP)(py)2 and Si(TPP)Cl2, have been investigated using static absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy and ultrafast transient absorption measurements. The parent Si(TPP)Cl2, in which the porphyrin macrocycle has its normal 2- oxidation state, has a fluorescence yield of 0.027, and a lifetime of 1.8 ns for the lowest excited singlet state. In marked contrast, the reduced, anti-aromatic complex Si(TPP)(py)2, with the macrocycle in the 4- oxidation state, has an extremely low fluorescence yield (< or =0.0004) and a 750-fold shorter excited-state lifetime (2.4 ps) in the same solvent (pyridine). The rapid deactivation of photoexcited Si(TPP)(py)2 to the ground state is likely associated with its ruffled structure and the presence of low-energy excited states in its electronic manifold.