TY - JOUR A1 - Pentlehner, Dominik A1 - Slenczka, Alkwin T1 - Helium induced fine structure in the electronic spectra of anthracene derivatives doped into superfluid helium nanodroplets JF - The Journal of Chemical Physics N2 - Electronic spectra of organic molecules doped into superfluid helium nanodroplets show characteristic features induced by the helium environment. Besides a solvent induced shift of the electronic transition frequency, in many cases, a spectral fine structure can be resolved for electronic and vibronic transitions which goes beyond the expected feature of a zero phonon line accompanied by a phonon wing as known from matrix isolation spectroscopy. The spectral shape of the zero phonon line and the helium induced phonon wing depends strongly on the dopant species. Phonon wings, for example, are reported ranging from single or multiple sharp transitions to broad (Δν > 100 cm−1) diffuse signals. Despite the large number of example spectra in the literature, a quantitative understanding of the helium induced fine structure of the zero phonon line and the phonon wing is missing. Our approach is a systematic investigation of related molecular compounds, which may help to shed light on this key feature of microsolvation in superfluid helium droplets. This paper is part of a comparative study of the helium induced fine structure observed in electronic spectra of anthracene derivatives with particular emphasis on a spectrally sharp multiplet splitting at the electronic origin. In addition to previously discussed species, 9-cyanoanthracene and 9-chloroanthracene will be presented in this study for the first time. KW - Superfluid helium nanodroplets KW - Anthracene derivates Y1 - 2015 IS - 142 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Pentlehner, Dominik A1 - Greil, Ch. A1 - Dick, B. A1 - Slenczka, Alkwin T1 - Line broadening in electronic spectra of anthracene derivatives inside superfluid helium nanodroplets JF - The Journal of Chemical Physics N2 - Electronic spectroscopy of molecules profits greatly from superfluid helium droplets serving as a gentle cryogenic matrix. Characteristic features of electronic spectra in helium droplets are a solvent shift, phonon wings, and in rare cases a splitting of zero phonon lines. For the majority of molecules investigated so far in helium droplets the vibrational fine structure in electronic spectra resembles what was observed in a supersonic jet. The electronic spectra of three methylated anthracene derivatives and one phenylated anthracene discussed in this paper reveal remarkable effects in the vibrational fine structure due to solvation in helium droplets. For all four compounds the vibrational frequencies were almost not affected by the helium environment. However, if the electronic excitation is accompanied by nuclear rearrangement, the spectra showed remarkable line broadening in helium droplets. This is the case for 2-methylanthracene and 9-phenylanthracene. The corresponding line shape was of Lorentzian type and, thus, attributed to damping of the excited system by the helium environment. According to the linewidth the damping time constant was determined to be about 0.3 ps in the case of 2-methylanthracene and 0.1 ps for 9-phenylanthracene. KW - Helium nanodroplets KW - Anthracene derivates KW - Electronic spectroscopy Y1 - 2010 IS - 133 ER -