Multiscale photosynthetic exciton transfer
arXiv:1206.3300 · doi:10.1038/nphys2332
Abstract
Photosynthetic light harvesting provides a natural blueprint for bioengineered and biomimetic solar energy and light detection technologies. Recent evidence suggests some individual light harvesting protein complexes (LHCs) and LHC subunits efficiently transfer excitons towards chemical reaction centers (RCs) via an interplay between excitonic quantum coherence, resonant protein vibrations, and thermal decoherence. The role of coherence in vivo is unclear however, where excitons are transferred through multi-LHC/RC aggregates over distances typically large compared with intra-LHC scales. Here we assess the possibility of long-range coherent transfer in a simple chromophore network with disordered site and transfer coupling energies. Through renormalization we find that, surprisingly, decoherence is diminished at larger scales, and long-range coherence is facilitated by chromophoric clustering. Conversely, static disorder in the site energies grows with length scale, forcing localization. Our results suggest sustained coherent exciton transfer may be possible over distances large compared with nearest-neighbour (n-n) chromophore separations, at physiological temperatures, in a clustered network with small static disorder. This may support findings suggesting long-range coherence in algal chloroplasts, and provides a framework for engineering large chromophore or quantum dot high-temperature exciton transfer networks.
9 pages, 6 figures. A significantly updated version is now published online by Nature Physics (2012)
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- Dynamical Steady-States in Driven Quantum Systems
- Eliminating radiative losses in long-range exciton transport
- Classical Approach to Multichromophoric Resonance Energy Transfer
- Complex quantum network model of energy transfer in photosynthetic complexes
- Estimating the HF coupling parameters of the avian compass by comprehensively considering the available experimental results
- Local probe for connectivity and coupling strength in quantum complex networks
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- Scattering Theory of Efficient Quantum Transport across Finite Networks
- Multiscale Analysis and Optimisation of Photosynthetic Solar Energy Systems
- Environment-assisted modulation of heat flux in a bio-inspired system based on collision model