Strong coupling between electromagnetic radiation and matter is highly promising for tailoring optoelectronic and transport properties of functional materials, with potential applications ranging from organic photovoltaics to nanophotonics and quantum technologies. Strong coupling manifests in peak splittings in the optical spectra and ultrafast Rabi oscillations in the dynamics. The...
Polaritons exhibit delocalized wavefunctions resulting in enhanced energy transport compared to bare polar excitations. We developed a general method based on ultrafast far-field microscopy to directly image the transport of phonon-polaritons and exciton-polaritons from mid-IR to visible frequencies in a variety of environments, including microcavities, self-hybridized material slabs,...
Strong light-matter interaction leads to the formation of hybrid polariton states and alters the photophysical dynamics of organic materials and biological systems without modifying their chemical structure. Here, we experimentally investigated a well-known photosynthetic protein, light harvesting 2 complexes (LH2) from purple bacteria under both strong and weak coupling with the light mode of...
Strong light-molecule coupling has led to a new class of matter at nanoscale, due to its tunable hybridization of molecular excitations and photons known as polaritons. Because of the confined geometry that yields the collective nature, molecular polaritons create a new paradigm of molecular relaxation and radiative processes, i.e., reaction activity and light-induced exotic phases. These...
Polaritonic and plasmonic chemistry is an interdisciplinary emerging field that presents several challenges and opportunities in chemistry, physics, and engineering. Cavities offer non-invasive ways to modulate and control molecular properties – and study unique states of matter (polaritons). In this talk, I will discuss our recent advances in the theoretical and computational modeling of...
