Do Molecular Geometries Change Under Vibrational Strong Coupling?

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Schnappinger, Thomas, Kowalewski, Markus
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Schnappinger, Thomas
Kowalewski, Markus
author_facet Schnappinger, Thomas
Kowalewski, Markus
contents As pioneering experiments have shown, strong vibrational coupling between molecular vibrations and light modes in an optical cavity can significantly alter molecular properties and even affect chemical reactivity. However, the current theoretical description is limited and far from complete. To explore the origin of this exciting observation, we investigate how the molecular structure changes under strong light-matter coupling using an ab-initio method based on the cavity Born-Oppenheimer Hartree-Fock ansatz. By optimizing H$_2$O and H$_2$O$_2$ resonantly coupled to cavity modes, we study the importance of reorientation and geometric relaxation. In addition, we show that the inclusion of one or two cavity modes can change the observed results. On the basis of our findings, we derive a simple concept to estimate the effect of the cavity interaction on the molecular geometry using the molecular polarizability and the dipole moments.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2405_17246
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Do Molecular Geometries Change Under Vibrational Strong Coupling?
Schnappinger, Thomas
Kowalewski, Markus
Chemical Physics
As pioneering experiments have shown, strong vibrational coupling between molecular vibrations and light modes in an optical cavity can significantly alter molecular properties and even affect chemical reactivity. However, the current theoretical description is limited and far from complete. To explore the origin of this exciting observation, we investigate how the molecular structure changes under strong light-matter coupling using an ab-initio method based on the cavity Born-Oppenheimer Hartree-Fock ansatz. By optimizing H$_2$O and H$_2$O$_2$ resonantly coupled to cavity modes, we study the importance of reorientation and geometric relaxation. In addition, we show that the inclusion of one or two cavity modes can change the observed results. On the basis of our findings, we derive a simple concept to estimate the effect of the cavity interaction on the molecular geometry using the molecular polarizability and the dipole moments.
title Do Molecular Geometries Change Under Vibrational Strong Coupling?
topic Chemical Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2405.17246