Dendrimers as light harvesting antennae

We consider energy transfer from an initially excited state on a dendrimer to a trap located at its center. The energy transfer process is dominated by an inherent geometric bias. We propose that dendrimers can serve as efficient artificial antenna systems for light harvesting. Based on mean first passage time calculations, we demonstrate that the effective rate of capture by the trap depends on the size of the dendrimer, the coordination number, the rates of migration, and the initial condition. The efficiency of the system increases rapidly when an energetic funnel is added, which competes with the geometric bias. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.