Jino George

Surface plasmon coupled circular dichroism of Au nanoparticles on peptide nanotubes.

Au nanoparticles grown on D- and L-isomers of diphenylalanine peptide nanotubes showed a bisignated CD signal at their surface plasmon frequency with positive and negative couplets, respectively. The surface plasmon coupled CD signal in these hybrid systems originates from the asymmetric organization of Au nanoparticles on peptide nanotubes. Mirror image relationship in the CD spectra clearly indicates that the chiral molecules on the nanotubes drive the organization of nanoparticles in two different ways.

Conductivity in organic semiconductors hybridized with the vacuum field.

Much effort over the past decades has been focused on improving carrier mobility in organic thin-film transistors by optimizing the organization of the material or the device architecture. Here we take a different path to solving this problem, by injecting carriers into states that are hybridized to the vacuum electromagnetic field. To test this idea, organic semiconductors were strongly coupled to plasmonic modes to form coherent states that can extend over as many as 10(5) molecules and should thereby favour conductivity. Experiments show that indeed the current does increase by an order of magnitude at resonance in the coupled state, reflecting mostly a change in field-effect mobility. A theoretical quantum model confirms the delocalization of the wavefunctions of the hybridized states and its effect on the conductivity. Our findings illustrate the potential of engineering the vacuum electromagnetic environment to modify and to improve properties of materials.

Coherent coupling of molecular resonators with a microcavity mode

The optical hybridization of the electronic states in strongly coupled molecule–cavity systems have revealed unique properties, such as lasing, room temperature polariton condensation and the modification of excited electronic landscapes involved in molecular isomerization. Here we show that molecular vibrational modes of the electronic ground state can also be coherently coupled with a microcavity mode at room temperature, given the low vibrational thermal occupation factors associated with molecular vibrations, and the collective coupling of a large ensemble of molecules immersed within the cavity-mode volume. This enables the enhancement of the collective Rabi-exchange rate with respect to the single-oscillator coupling strength. The possibility of inducing large shifts in the vibrational frequency of selected molecular bonds should have immediate consequences for chemistry.

Enhanced Raman Scattering from Vibro‐Polariton Hybrid States

Ground-state molecular vibrations can be hybridized through strong coupling with the vacuum field of a cavity optical mode in the infrared region, leading to the formation of two new coherent vibro-polariton states. The spontaneous Raman scattering from such hybridized light–matter states was studied, showing that the collective Rabi splitting occurs at the level of a single selected bond. Moreover, the coherent nature of the vibro-polariton states boosts the Raman scattering cross-section by two to three orders of magnitude, revealing a new enhancement mechanism as a result of vibrational strong coupling. This observation has fundamental consequences for the understanding of light-molecule strong coupling and for molecular science.

Liquid-Phase Vibrational Strong Coupling.

Light-matter strong coupling involving ground-state molecular vibrations is investigated for the first time in the liquid phase for a set of molecules placed in microcavities. By tuning the cavities, one or more vibrational modes can be coupled in parallel or in series, inducing a change in the vibrational frequencies of the bonds. These findings are of fundamental importance to fully develop light-matter strong coupling for applications in molecular and material sciences.

Thermodynamics of Molecules Strongly Coupled to the Vacuum Field

The thermodynamics of strong coupling between molecules and the vacuum field is analyzed and the Gibbs free energy, the enthalpy, and entropy of the coupling process are determined for the first time. The thermodynamic parameters are a function of the Rabi splitting and the microscopic solvation. The results provide a new framework for understanding light-molecule strong coupling.

Ground-State Chemical Reactivity under Vibrational Coupling to the Vacuum Electromagnetic Field.

Abstract The ground‐state deprotection of a simple alkynylsilane is studied under vibrational strong coupling to the zero‐point fluctuations, or vacuum electromagnetic field, of a resonant IR microfluidic cavity. The reaction rate decreased by a factor of up to 5.5 when the Si−C vibrational stretching modes of the reactant were strongly coupled. The relative change in the reaction rate under strong coupling depends on the Rabi splitting energy. Product analysis by GC‐MS confirmed the kinetic results. Temperature dependence shows that the activation enthalpy and entropy change significantly, suggesting that the transition state is modified from an associative to a dissociative type. These findings show that vibrational strong coupling provides a powerful approach for modifying and controlling chemical landscapes and for understanding reaction mechanisms.

Quantum Yield of Polariton Emission from Hybrid Light-Matter States.

The efficiency of light-matter strong coupling is tuned by precisely varying the spatial position of a thin layer of cyanine dye J-aggregates in Fabry-Perot microcavities, and their photophysical properties are determined. Placing the layer at the cavity field maximum affords an interaction energy (Rabi splitting) of 503 meV, a 62% increase over that observed if the aggregates are simply spread evenly through the cavity, placing the system in the ultrastrong coupling regime. The fluorescence quantum yield of the lowest polaritonic state P- integrated over k-space is found to be ∼10(-2). The same value can be deduced from the 1.4 ps lifetime of P- measured by femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy and the calculated radiative decay rate constant. Thus, the polariton decay is dominated by nonradiative processes, in contrast with what might be expected from the small effective mass of the polaritons. These findings provide a deeper understanding of hybrid light-molecule states and have implications for the modification of molecular and material properties by strong coupling.

Non-Radiative Energy Transfer Mediated by Hybrid Light-Matter States

We present direct evidence of enhanced non-radiative energy transfer between two J-aggregated cyanine dyes strongly coupled to the vacuum field of a cavity. Excitation spectroscopy and femtosecond pump-probe measurements show that the energy transfer is highly efficient when both the donor and acceptor form light-matter hybrid states with the vacuum field. The rate of energy transfer is increased by a factor of seven under those conditions as compared to the normal situation outside the cavity, with a corresponding effect on the energy transfer efficiency. The delocalized hybrid states connect the donor and acceptor molecules and clearly play the role of a bridge to enhance the rate of energy transfer. This finding has fundamental implications for coherent energy transport and light-energy harvesting.

Energy Transfer between Spatially Separated Entangled Molecules

Abstract Light–matter strong coupling allows for the possibility of entangling the wave functions of different molecules through the light field. We hereby present direct evidence of non‐radiative energy transfer well beyond the Förster limit for spatially separated donor and acceptor cyanine dyes strongly coupled to a cavity. The transient dynamics and the static spectra show an energy transfer efficiency approaching 37 % for donor–acceptor distances ≥100 nm. In such systems, the energy transfer process becomes independent of distance as long as the coupling strength is maintained. This is consistent with the entangled and delocalized nature of the polaritonic states.