Publications [#234050] of Michael J. Therien

Papers Published

1. Gonella, G; Dai, H-L; Fry, HC; Therien, MJ; Krishnan, V; Tronin, A; Blasie, JK, Control of the orientational order and nonlinear optical response of the "push-pull" chromophore RuPZn via specific incorporation into densely packed monolayer ensembles of an amphiphilic 4-helix bundle peptide: second harmonic generation at high chromophore densities., Journal of the American Chemical Society, vol. 132 no. 28 (July, 2010), pp. 9693-9700 [20578696], [doi]
   (last updated on 2026/01/14)

   Abstract:
   The macroscopic nonlinear optical response of the "push-pull" chromophore RuPZn incorporated into a single monolayer of the amphiphilic 4-helix bundle peptide (AP0) covalently attached to a solid substrate at high in-plane density has been measured. The second-order susceptibility, chi(zzz), was found to be in the range of approximately 15 x 10(-9) esu, consistent with a coherent sum of the nonlinear contributions from the individual chromophores (beta) as previously measured in isotropic solution through hyper-Rayleigh scattering as well as estimated from theoretical calculations. The microscopic hyperpolarizability of the RuPZn chromophore is preserved upon incorporation into the peptide monolayer, suggesting that the chromophore-chromophore interactions in the densely packed ensemble do not substantially affect the first-order molecular hyperpolarizability. The polarization angle dependence of the second harmonic signal reveals that the chromophore is vectorially oriented in the two-dimensional ensemble. Analysis of the order parameter together with information obtained from grazing incidence X-ray diffraction help in determining the chromophore orientation within the AP0-RuPZn monolayer. Taking into account an average pitch angle of approximately 20 degrees characterizing the coiled-coil structure of the peptide bundle, the width of the bundle's tilt angle distribution should be sigma < or = 20 degrees, resulting in a mean value of the tilt angle 23 degrees < or = theta(0) < or = 37 degrees.