LOW-TEMPERATURE LASER SPECTROSCOPY - HOLE BURNING TECHNIQUE

Hole burning spectroscopy is a low temperature high resolution technique based OD the removal of inhomogeneous broadening of optical spectra of guest molecules in solid matrices. The removal is achieved by narrow band laser irradiation of the sample, followed by photoinduced transformation of spectrally selected homogeneous packet of guest molecules. Hole burning method represents a powerful tool for the study of relaxation processes of excited states in solids. ln comparison with alternative time resolved techniques hole burning is not limited in the region of very fast relaxation times and thus is suitable e.g. for the study of fast primary physical events in photosynthesis or for the study of fast energy transfer in molecular complexes such as Langmuir-Blodgett films.