Photoabsorption studies of 11-cis and all-trans Schiff-base retinal chromophore cations in the gas phase have been performed at the electrostatic ion storage ring in Aarhus. A broad absorption band due to the optically allowed excitation to the first electronically excited singlet state ($S_1$) is observed at around 600 nm. A second “dark” excited state ($S_2$) just below 400 nm is reported for the first time. It is located $\sim 1.2\mathrm{eV}$ above $S_1$ for both chromophores. The $S_2$ state was not visible in a solution measurement where only one highly blueshifted absorption band corresponding to the first excited state was visible. Knowledge of the position of the excited states in retinal is essential for the understanding of the fast photoisomerization in, for example, visual pigments.

• Received 9 September 2005

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.96.018304