Coherence in multilevel systems. I. Coherence in excited states and its application to optically detected magnetic resonance in phosphorescent triplet states

A method for monitoring the time development of the coherent components in a multilevel system using an observable which can measure only the relative populations in the levels is presented. Using standard density matrix formulation, expressions are obtained for the conventional and this new ’’probe’’ pulse method. For several of the more common coherence experiments, optically detected magnetic resonance of molecular excited triplet states is used to illustrate the principles. The effect of coherent averaging of relaxation terms in the spin Hamiltonian is discussed and specifically applied to excited triplet states in zero field. Finally, experimental results of coherence measurements are presented along with a detailed description of the apparatus and methods used.