Energy transfer to the phonons of a macromolecule through light pumping

Year: 2021

Authors: Faraji E., Franzosi R., Mancini S., Pettini M.

Autors Affiliation: Univ Camerino, Sch Sci & Technol, I-62032 Camerino, Italy; CNR, QSTAR, Largo Enrico Fermi 2, I-50125 Florence, Italy; CNR, INO, Largo Enrico Fermi 2, I-50125 Florence, Italy; INFN, Sez Perugia, I-06123 Perugia, Italy; Univ Toulon & Var, Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, CPT, Marseille, France; CNRS, UMR7332, Ctr Phys Theor, F-13288 Marseille, France.

Abstract: In the present paper we address the problem of the energy downconversion of the light absorbed
by a protein into its internal vibrational modes. We consider the case in which the light receptors are fluorophores either naturally co-expressed with the protein or artificially covalently bound to some of its amino acids. In a recent work [Phys. Rev. X 8, 031061 (2018)], it has been experimentally found that by shining a laser light on the fluorophores attached to a protein the energy fed to it can be channeled into the normal mode of lowest frequency of vibration thus making the subunits of the protein coherently oscillate. Even if the phonon condensation phenomenon has been theoretically explained, the first step – the energy transfer from electronic excitation into phonon excitation – has been left open. The present work is aimed at filling this gap.

Journal/Review: SCIENTIFIC REPORTS

Volume: 11 (1)      Pages from: 6591-1  to: 6591-14

More Information: E.F. warmly thanks the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze for having co-funded her PhD fellowship. M.P. participated in this work within the framework of the project MOLINT which has received funding from the Excellence Initiative of Aix-Marseille University – A*Midex, a French “Investissements dŽAvenir” programme. R.F. acknowledges support by the QuantERA ERA-NET Co-fund 731473 (Project Q-CLOCKS).
KeyWords: Quantum dynamics, life matter
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-85856-5

Citations: 5
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