Theory for polariton-assisted remote energy transfer

Vibration-assisted exciton transfer in molecular aggregates strongly coupled to confined light fields

We investigate exciton transport through one-dimensional molecular aggregates interacting strongly with a cavity mode. Unlike several prior theoretical studies treating the monomers as simple two-level systems, exciton-vibration coupling is explicitly included in the description of open quantum dynamics of the system. In the framework of the Holstein-Tavis-Cummings model with truncated vibrational space, we investigate the steady-state exciton transfer through both a molecular dimer and longer molecular chains. For a molecular dimer, we find that vibration-assisted exciton transfer occurs at strong exciton-cavity coupling regime where the vacuum Rabi splitting matches the frequency of a single vibrational quantum, whereas for longer molecular chains, vibration-assisted transfer is found to occur at the ultrastrong exciton-cavity coupling limit. In addition, finite relaxation of vibrational modes induced by the continuous phonon bath is found to further facilitate the exciton transport in vibrational enhancement regimes.

Modification of excitation and charge transfer in cavity quantum-electrodynamical chemistry

Excitation and charge transfer are fundamental processes in nature, and controlling these processes is a major goal of quantum chemistry. While these processes are well understood for the usual free-space case, when the electromagnetic vacuum is changed due to, e.g., a cavity, these processes can be dramatically different. We consider these changes in transfer processes with real-space donor–acceptor models, where we put an emphasis on the impact of electron–electron correlations. We find results in line with recent experiments, where strong light–matter interaction leads to enhanced transfer reactions, even when in the corresponding free-space situation no transfer should be possible. We highlight that the processes depend crucially on the Coulomb and self-polarization interactions.

Energy transfer in terms of excitation or charge is one of the most basic processes in nature, and understanding and controlling them is one of the major challenges of modern quantum chemistry. In this work, we highlight that these processes as well as other chemical properties can be drastically altered by modifying the vacuum fluctuations of the electromagnetic field in a cavity. By using a real-space formulation from first principles that keeps all of the electronic degrees of freedom in the model explicit and simulates changes in the environment by an effective photon mode, we can easily connect to well-known quantum-chemical results such as Dexter charge-transfer and Förster excitation-transfer reactions, taking into account the often-disregarded Coulomb and self-polarization interaction. We find that the photonic degrees of freedom introduce extra electron–electron correlations over large distances and that the coupling to the cavity can drastically alter the characteristic charge-transfer behavior and even selectively improve the efficiency. For excitation transfer, we find that the cavity renders the transfer more efficient, essentially distance-independent, and further different configurations of highest efficiency depending on the coherence times. For strong decoherence (short coherence times), the cavity frequency should be in between the isolated excitations of the donor and acceptor, while for weak decoherence (long coherence times), the cavity should enhance a mode that is close to resonance with either donor or acceptor. Our results highlight that changing the photonic environment can redefine chemical processes, rendering polaritonic chemistry a promising approach toward the control of chemical reactions.

Strong light-matter interactions: a new direction within chemistry

It is possible to modify the chemical and physical properties of molecules, not only through chemical modifications but also by coupling molecules strongly to light. More intriguingly, strong coupling between molecules and light is possible even without the presence of a photon. The phenomenon that makes this possible is called vacuum fluctuations, which is the finite zero point energy of the quantized electromagnetic field inside an optical cavity. The light-matter coupling, which can be as large as 1 eV (100 kJ mol-1), leads to the formation of new hybrid states, called polaritons. The formed hybrid states can be viewed as a linear combination of light (vacuum field) and matter (molecules), thus completely changing the energy landscape of the system. Using vacuum fluctuations, strong light-matter interactions have for instance been used to change chemical reactivity, charge conductivity, excited state relaxation pathways and rates of chemical reactions of organic molecules. In this review a brief history of the field is given, followed by a theoretical framework, methods of analysis, and a review of accomplishments. Finally, a personal reflection on the future perspectives and applications within this field is given.

Collective Jahn-Teller Interactions through Light-Matter Coupling in a Cavity

The ultrafast nonradiative relaxation of a molecular ensemble coupled to a cavity mode is considered theoretically and by real-time quantum dynamics. For equal coupling strength of single molecules to the cavity mode, the nonradiative relaxation rate from the upper to the lower polariton states is found to strongly depend on the number of coupled molecules. The coupling of both bright and dark polaritonic states among each other constitutes a special case of (pseudo-)Jahn-Teller interactions involving collective displacements the internal coordinates of the molecules in the ensemble, and the strength of the first order vibronic coupling depends exclusively on the gradient of the energy gaps between molecular electronic states. For N>2 molecules, the N-1 dark light-matter states between the two optically active polaritons feature true collective conical intersection crossings, whose location depends on the internal atomic coordinates of each molecule in the ensemble, and which contribute to the ultrafast nonradiative decay from the upper polariton.

Characteristic Distance of Resonance Energy Transfer Coupled with Surface Plasmon Polaritons

We investigate resonance energy transfer (RET) between a donor-acceptor pair above a gold surface (including bulk and thin-film systems) and explore the distance/frequency dependence of RET enhancements using the theory we developed previously. The mechanism of RET above a gold surface can be attributed to the effects of mirror dipoles, surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs), and retardation. To clarify these effects on RET, we analyze the enhancements of RET by the mirror method, the decomposition of s- and p-polarization, and the SPP dispersion of charge-symmetric and charge-antisymmetric modes. We find a characteristic distance (approximately 1/10 of the wavelength) that can be used to classify the dominant effect on RET. Moreover, the characteristic distance can be shortened by narrowing the thickness of the thin-film systems, indicating that SPPs can enhance the rate of RET at a short range. The charge-symmetric and charge-antisymmetric modes of the thin films also allow us to engineer the maximum RET enhancement. We hope that our analysis inspires further investigation into the mechanism of RET coupled with SPPs and its applications.

Molecular Emission near Metal Interfaces: The Polaritonic Regime

The strong coupling of a dense layer of molecular excitons with surface-plasmon modes in a metal gives rise to polaritons (hybrid light-matter states) called plexcitons. Surface plasmons cannot directly emit into (or be excited by) free-space photons due to the fact that energy and momentum conservation cannot be simultaneously satisfied in photoluminescence. Most plexcitons are also formally nonemissive, even though they can radiate via molecules upon localization due to disorder and decoherence. However, a fraction of them are bright even in the presence of such deleterious processes. In this Letter, we theoretically discuss the superradiant emission properties of these bright plexcitons, which belong to the upper energy branch and reveal huge photoluminescence enhancements compared to bare excitons, due to near-divergences in the density of photonic modes available to them. Our study generalizes the well-known problem of molecular emission next to a metal interface to the polaritonic regime.

Coherent Light Harvesting through Strong Coupling to Confined Light

When photoactive molecules interact strongly with confined light modes, new hybrid light-matter states may form: the polaritons. These polaritons are coherent superpositions of excitations of the molecules and of the cavity photon. Recently, polaritons were shown to mediate energy transfer between chromophores at distances beyond the Förster limit. Here we explore the potential of strong coupling for light-harvesting applications by means of atomistic molecular dynamics simulations of mixtures of photoreactive and non-photo-reactive molecules strongly coupled to a single confined light mode. These molecules are spatially separated and present at different concentrations. Our simulations suggest that while the excitation is initially fully delocalized over all molecules and the confined light mode, it very rapidly localizes onto one of the photoreactive molecules, which then undergoes the reaction.

Polariton chemistry: controlling molecular dynamics with optical cavities

Molecular polaritons are the optical excitations which emerge when molecular transitions interact strongly with confined electromagnetic fields. Increasing interest in the hybrid molecular-photonic materials that host these excitations stems from recent observations of their novel and tunable chemistry. Some of the remarkable functionalities exhibited by polaritons include the ability to induce long-range excitation energy transfer, enhance charge conductivity, and inhibit or accelerate chemical reactions. In this review, we explain the effective theories of molecular polaritons which form a basis for the interpretation and guidance of experiments at the strong coupling limit. The theoretical discussion is illustrated with the analysis of innovative applications of strongly coupled molecular-photonic systems to chemical phenomena of fundamental importance to future technologies.