Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Preprint |
| Published: |
2026
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.09243 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1866915788130091008 |
|---|---|
| author | Nelson, Jane C. Wright, Trevor H. Lin, Neo Rohde, Madeline Weichman, Marissa L. |
| author_facet | Nelson, Jane C. Wright, Trevor H. Lin, Neo Rohde, Madeline Weichman, Marissa L. |
| contents | Molecular polaritons, hybrid light-matter states formed from the strong coupling of molecular transitions and discrete photonic modes, are a compelling platform for optical control of chemical reactivity. Despite the origins of the field of polaritonics in atomic gases, strong coupling of molecular gases remains underexplored. The pristine, solvent-free gas-phase environment may prove ideal for gaining mechanistic understanding of molecular behavior under strong light-matter coupling. In this work, we achieve electronic strong coupling of the B-X, $ν_1$ = 0$\rightarrow$32, J = 53$\rightarrow$52 and B-X, $ν_1$ = 0$\rightarrow$34, J = 103$\rightarrow$102 rovibronic transitions of gas-phase iodine (I$_2$) lying near 532.2 nm. We access a range of coupling strengths and detuning conditions with fine control over molecular number density and cavity length stabilization. This effort represents the first demonstration of electronic polaritons in a molecular gas and opens a new platform for polariton photochemistry and photophysics. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2602_09243 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Electronic Strong Coupling of Gas-Phase Molecular Iodine Nelson, Jane C. Wright, Trevor H. Lin, Neo Rohde, Madeline Weichman, Marissa L. Chemical Physics Molecular polaritons, hybrid light-matter states formed from the strong coupling of molecular transitions and discrete photonic modes, are a compelling platform for optical control of chemical reactivity. Despite the origins of the field of polaritonics in atomic gases, strong coupling of molecular gases remains underexplored. The pristine, solvent-free gas-phase environment may prove ideal for gaining mechanistic understanding of molecular behavior under strong light-matter coupling. In this work, we achieve electronic strong coupling of the B-X, $ν_1$ = 0$\rightarrow$32, J = 53$\rightarrow$52 and B-X, $ν_1$ = 0$\rightarrow$34, J = 103$\rightarrow$102 rovibronic transitions of gas-phase iodine (I$_2$) lying near 532.2 nm. We access a range of coupling strengths and detuning conditions with fine control over molecular number density and cavity length stabilization. This effort represents the first demonstration of electronic polaritons in a molecular gas and opens a new platform for polariton photochemistry and photophysics. |
| title | Electronic Strong Coupling of Gas-Phase Molecular Iodine |
| topic | Chemical Physics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.09243 |