Donor's position-specific channel interference in substituted biphenyl molecules.

The channel interference mechanism describes the two-photon absorption process in terms of the relative orientations of different transition dipole moment vectors (TDMVs) in a molecule. Controlling these interferences is a difficult but important task, because it can provide new information about such absorption/emission processes. The present contribution aims to explain the reversal in the nature of these interferences with the relative positions of the donor-acceptor groups in substituted biphenyl molecules. The results obtained from the linear and quadratic response theories indicate that having the donor at the para position leads to a constructive interference whereas having it at any of the other two positions results in a destructive interference. This is explained by a systematic analysis of the relative orientations of all the TDMVs involved in a three-state model.