Exciton dynamics in the light-harvesting complexes of Rhodobacter sphaeroides
We have used ≈ 40 fs pulses from a Ti:Sa laser to investigate the ultrafast energy transfer and relaxation dynamics in the LH1 and LH2 light-harvesting pigment-proteins of photosynthetic purple bacteria. Our results reveal a new feature, not earlier observed in light-harvesting pigments, ultrafast relaxation characterized by a time constant of approximately 20 fs, which we interpret as interexcito
