Vibrational vs. electronic coherences in 2D spectrum of molecular systems

Two-dimensional spectroscopy has recently revealed the oscillatory behavior of the excitation dynamics of molecular systems. However, in the majority of cases there is considerable debate over what is actually being observed: excitonic or vibrational wavepacket motion or evidence of quantum transport. In this letter we present a method for distinguishing between vibrational and excitonic wavepacket motion, based on the phase and amplitude relationships of oscillations of distinct peaks as revealed through a fundamental analysis of the two-dimensional spectra of two representative systems. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.