Coherence and relaxation in energy transfer processes in condensed phases

Investigations of electronic triplet and vibrational energy transfer dynamics and relaxation processes are presented. Emphasis is placed on understanding the role of coherence and interactions which tend to destroy the coherence. In the case of triplet excitons at low temperatures, the importance of coherence in energy migration can be established, and the average coherence parameters can be experimentally determined. In the case of vibrational excitations, both picosecond spectroscopic studies of vibrational relaxation and spontaneous Raman spectroscopy are used to characterize the dynamics and give increased insight into the nature of the mechanisms responsible for vibrational dephasing. The design and operation of the picosecond apparatus used in these experiments is also described