Quantum coherent energy transport in the Fenna-Matthews-Olson complex at low temperature.

ABSTRACT: In the primary step of natural light harvesting, the solar photon energy is captured in a photoexcited electron-hole pair, or an exciton, in chlorophyll. Its conversion to chemical potential occurs in the special pair reaction center, which is reached by downhill ultrafast excited-state energy transport through a network of chromophores. Being inherently quantum, transport could in principle occur via a matter wave, with vast implications for efficiency. How long a matter wave remains coherent is determined by the intensity by which the exciton is disturbed by the noisy biological environment. The stronger this is, the stronger the electronic coupling between chromophores must be to overcome the fluctuations and phase shifts. The current consensus is that under physiological conditions, qu

SUBMITTER: Duan HG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9894199 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature