ISOMER-SPECIFIC RADIATIVE LIFETIMES OF MOLECULAR HETEROCLUSTERS

In this paper we propose a novel approach for the deconvolution of the complex spectral structure of the S0 --> S1 electronic spectra of aromatic molecule-rare-gas heteroclusters, which rests on the experimental observation of isomer-specific radiative lifetimes of structural isomers at a fixed composition. The spectra and the pure radiative lifetimes, tau-r, of 9,10-dichloroanthracene.Kr(n) (n = 1-5) heteroclusters were measured by resonant two-photon two-color ionization. Different tau-r values for distinct spectral features of n = 3-5 heteroclusters with a fixed n allow for the distinction between structural isomers. The confrontation between experiment and a molecular theory of tau-r provides an unambiguous identification of the structural isomers of heteroclusters.