Coherent and perfect absorption with organic molecules: an exploration of strong and ultra-strong light-matter coupling
Lead Research Organisation:
University of St Andrews
Department Name: Physics and Astronomy
Abstract
Strong coupling between light and matter means that photons can be absorbed and re-emitted many times before photons escape, or material excitations decay. Ultrastrong coupling means that the conversion between matter and light starts to approach the bare frequency of the cavity photons. In this regime, it is no longer appropriate to think of matter and light separately, but of the combined system, and the material properties can no longer be calculated in isolation. While such ideas have been discussed for some time in the context of THz or GHz frequency radiation, it has recently become accessible at optical frequencies using organic molecules in optical microcavities [1,2]. The aim of this project will be to explore a variety of strong and ultra-strong coupling phenomena in these systems, including coherent perfect absorption [3,4] (where impedance matching between mirror transmission and non-radiative losses is used to ensure maximum energy transfer to the matter-light system). In particular, building on recent work[5], we will explore how the vibrational sidebands present in molecular systems affect phenomena of strong and ultra-strong coupling.
[1] S. Kéna-Cohen, S. a. Maier, and D. D. C. Bradley, Adv. Opt. Mater. n/a (2013). 10.1002/adom.201300256
[2] A. Canaguier-Durand, E. Devaux, J. George, Y. Pang, J. a Hutchison, T. Schwartz, C. Genet, N. Wilhelms, J.-M. Lehn, and T. W. Ebbesen, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl. 52, 10533 (2013). 10.1002/anie.201301861
[3] W. Wan, Y. Chong, L. Ge, H. Noh, a D. Stone, and H. Cao, Science 331, 889 (2011).
10.1038/nphys3106
[4] S. Zanotto, F. P. Mezzapesa, F. Bianco, G. Biasiol, L. Baldacci, M. S. Vitiello, L. Sorba, R. Colombelli, and A. Tredicucci, Nat. Phys. 10, (2014). 10.1126/science.1140990
[5] J. A. Cwik, S. Reja, P. B. Littlewood, and J. Keeling, Eur. Lett. 105, 47009 (2014).
Please list any agreed training requirements:
Training is provided through the Scottish Universities Physics Alliance (SUPA) graduate school. This includes a required 40 hours of technical courses and 20 hours of core skills training. So far, the agreed courses are:
SUPAEPS - The Interacting Electron Problem in Solids
SUPAOQS - Open Quantum Systems
SUPAMPS - Matrix Product State and Tensor Network Approaches to Many Body Systems
[1] S. Kéna-Cohen, S. a. Maier, and D. D. C. Bradley, Adv. Opt. Mater. n/a (2013). 10.1002/adom.201300256
[2] A. Canaguier-Durand, E. Devaux, J. George, Y. Pang, J. a Hutchison, T. Schwartz, C. Genet, N. Wilhelms, J.-M. Lehn, and T. W. Ebbesen, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl. 52, 10533 (2013). 10.1002/anie.201301861
[3] W. Wan, Y. Chong, L. Ge, H. Noh, a D. Stone, and H. Cao, Science 331, 889 (2011).
10.1038/nphys3106
[4] S. Zanotto, F. P. Mezzapesa, F. Bianco, G. Biasiol, L. Baldacci, M. S. Vitiello, L. Sorba, R. Colombelli, and A. Tredicucci, Nat. Phys. 10, (2014). 10.1126/science.1140990
[5] J. A. Cwik, S. Reja, P. B. Littlewood, and J. Keeling, Eur. Lett. 105, 47009 (2014).
Please list any agreed training requirements:
Training is provided through the Scottish Universities Physics Alliance (SUPA) graduate school. This includes a required 40 hours of technical courses and 20 hours of core skills training. So far, the agreed courses are:
SUPAEPS - The Interacting Electron Problem in Solids
SUPAOQS - Open Quantum Systems
SUPAMPS - Matrix Product State and Tensor Network Approaches to Many Body Systems
Organisations
Studentship Projects
| Project Reference | Relationship | Related To | Start | End | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EP/N509759/1 | 01/10/2016 | 30/09/2021 | |||
| 1798309 | Studentship | EP/N509759/1 | 01/10/2016 | 30/06/2020 | Conor Stevenson |
| Description | I investigated mathematical and numerical (i.e. computer simulations) techniques to understanding certain quantum systems in a more realistic manner than has been addressed so far. In particular I have looked at heating and cooling of these types of systems, where you can see differences in behaviour because we have accounted for so-called 'structure' of the environment. In situations where you have tiny devices eg. very small electrical set-ups or precisely manufactured optical devices, the way that your experiment interacts with its surrounding is important. We have modelled this and found the key feature that you can design the coupling to your environment in such a way as to directly control what your device does. This gives an additional level of control past the conventional types, such as controlling things like voltage, applied magnetic fields, pressure and crystal structure. So the 'structure' in the environment has now an understanding in how it will sensitively influence the particular kind of systems I investigated, whereas this understanding was hard to find in literature. |
| Exploitation Route | There are several lines of reasoning in our calculation which we definitely see a route to continuing to more complicated and interesting cases. Code that I developed could very easily be put to use for a variety of other variations of the system's we studied in the course of this PhD as it has fairly general application to model other quantum systems. |
| Sectors | Other |