Vibrational pumping of molecules in tightly-confined plasmonic nanocavities

The project aims to study how pulsed mid-infrared laser irradiation --- pumping molecular vibrational transitions --- produces nonlinear signatures in subsequent Raman scattering spectra of molecules coupled to plasmonic nanocavities. These observations will be used to probe molecular surface interactions, the optomechanical description of cavity-molecule systems and provide insight into how mid-infrared radiation is absorbed in plasmonic cavities, relevant towards realising a new generation of THz detectors.