Fourth-Order Raman Spectroscopy of Wide-Band Gap Materials

Non-innocent adsorption of Co-pyrphyrin on rutile(110)

Co-pyrphyrin adsorbed on rutile(110) as a supported catalyst for water reduction.

Phonon mode of TiO2 coupled with the electron transfer from N3 dye

Low frequency vibrational spectra of submonolayer N3 dye (Ru(4,4(')-dicarboxy-2,2(')-bipyridine)2(NCS)2) adsorbed on TiO2 (110) were reported by using fourth-order coherent Raman spectroscopy, which is interface-sensitive vibrational spectroscopy. Most of the peaks observed in the experiment were at the same frequency as that of Raman and infrared spectra of the dye and TiO2. Two interfacial modes at 640 and 100 cm(-1) and one resonantly enhanced phonon at 146 cm(-1) appeared in addition to the pure TiO2 and N3 spectra. Adsorption of N3 dye on TiO2 contributed to the enhancement of 100 and 146 cm(-1) mode. The results not only reported interfacial low-frequency vibrations of TiO2 (110) with N3 dye adsorption but also suggested the coupling between the surface vibrations of TiO2 and charge transfer between N3 dye and TiO2 on the surface.

Fourth-order coherent Raman spectroscopy of liquid-solid interfaces: near-surface phonons of TiO2 (110) in liquids

The fourth-order coherent Raman response of a TiO2 (110) surface covered by HCl aqueous solution, neat octanol, acetic acid, or carbon tetrachloride layers is acquired. Four fourth-order optical responses were identified at 837-826, 452-448, 371-362, and 184-183 cm(-1) and assigned to near-surface phonons of TiO2. A third-order response produced in the bulk liquid layer was superimposed on the fourth-order response, when coherent vibrations are efficiently excited in the layer.

Surface vibrational modes of alpha-quartz(0001) probed by sum-frequency spectroscopy

Infrared-visible sum-frequency spectroscopy was used to probe surface vibrations of alpha-quartz(0001) under ambient conditions. Two modes at 880 and 980 cm(-1) were observed and identified as arising from Si-O-Si and Si-OH structures of the surface. Heat treatment and hydroxylation could convert Si-OH to Si-O-Si and vice versa. The technique is generally applicable to studies of surface phonons of other oxides, semiconductors, and insulators.

Molecular Vibrations at a Liquid−Liquid Interface Observed by Fourth-Order Raman Spectroscopy

Interface-selective, Raman-based observation of molecular vibrations is demonstrated at a liquid-liquid interface. An aqueous solution of oxazine 170 dye interfaced with hexadecane is irradiated with pump and probe light pulses of 630-nm wavelengths in 17-fs width. The ultrashort pulses are broadened due to group velocity dispersion when traveling through the hexadecane layer. The dispersion is optically corrected to give an optimized instrumental response. The pump pulse induces a vibrational coherence of the dye via impulsive stimulated Raman scattering. The probe pulse generates second-harmonic light at the interface. The efficiency of the generation is modulated as a function of the pump-probe delay by the coherently excited molecules. Fourier transformation of the modulated efficiency presents the frequency spectrum of the vibrations. Five bands are recognized at 534, 557, 593, 619, and 683 cm(-1). The pump-and-probe process induces a fourth-order optical response that is forbidden in a centrosymmetric media. The contribution of an undesired, cascaded optical process is quantitatively considered and excluded.

Interface-Specific χ(4) Coherent Raman Spectroscopy in the Frequency Domain

We demonstrate interface-specific fourth-order (chi(4)) coherent Raman spectroscopy in the frequency domain for the first time. Because the chi(4) Raman spectroscopy uses only visible (vis) or near-IR light, it is expected to be a potential alternative to the widely utilized IR-vis sum frequency generation spectroscopy that cannot be applied to interfaces buried in thick IR absorbers such as water. We present the vibrational absolute value(chi(4))2 spectrum of rhodamine 800 at the air/water interface in a wide spectral range 100-3600 cm(-1). Comparison of the absolute value(chi(4))2 spectrum with the absolute value(chi(3))2 spectrum leads us to conclude that the present chi(4) spectroscopy successfully probes the interface distinguished clearly from the bulk.

Molecular Mechanisms of Photoinduced Oxygen Evolution, PL Emission, and Surface Roughening at Atomically Smooth (110) and (100) n-TiO2 (Rutile) Surfaces in Aqueous Acidic Solutions

The success in preparing atomically smooth and stable (110) and (100) TiO2 (rutile) surfaces, combined with in situ photoluminescence (PL) and photocurrent measurements as well as atomic force microscopic (AFM) inspection, has enabled us to make systematic studies on molecular mechanisms of oxygen photoevolution and related processes on TiO2 (rutile), which are important for solar water splitting and photocatalytic environmental cleaning. The studies have revealed that various surface processes and properties, such as the flat-band potential (Ufb), the spectrum and intensity of the PL from a precursor of the oxygen photoevolution reaction, and photoinduced surface roughening, have all strong dependences on the atomic-level structure of the TiO2 surface. Importantly, all the results have been explained on the basis of our recently proposed new mechanism that the oxygen photoevolution reaction is initiated by a nucleophilic attack of an H2O molecule to a surface-trapped hole, thus giving confirmative evidence to it. The molecular mechanisms for photoinduced primary processes at the TiO2 surface, clarified in the present work, will provide a typical model for photoreactions on metal oxides in contact with aqueous solutions.