Mandal A, Li X, Huo P. Theory of vibrational polariton chemistry in the collective coupling regime.
J Chem Phys 2022;
156:014101. [PMID:
34998324 DOI:
10.1063/5.0074106]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
We theoretically demonstrate that the chemical reaction rate constant can be significantly suppressed by coupling molecular vibrations with an optical cavity, exhibiting both the collective coupling effect and the cavity frequency modification of the rate constant. When a reaction coordinate is strongly coupled to the solvent molecules, the reaction rate constant is reduced due to the dynamical caging effect. We demonstrate that collectively coupling the solvent to the cavity can further enhance this dynamical caging effect, leading to additional suppression of the chemical kinetics. This effect is further amplified when cavity loss is considered.
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