Research Areas - (1) Molecular Polaritonics and Vibrational Strong Coupling

Full path: Chemistry > Physical Chemistry > Nano-optics and Plasmonics > Molecular Polaritonics and Vibrational Strong Coupling

Department(s)/lab(s): School of Chemistry | Hutchison Molecular Polaritonics Group @ UMelb
Summary:

Hutchison works on molecular polaritonics: what happens to chemistry when molecular electronic or vibrational transitions are strongly coupled to a confined optical mode in a Fabry-Perot or plasmonic nanocavity. He was among the first to show that vibrational strong coupling modifies ground-state chemical reactivity, and the group continues to probe polariton-modified energy transfer, photochemistry and transport, alongside single-molecule spectroscopy and 2D-material photonics. Positioned against the established body of NV-ensemble quantum sensing work — DEER, nanoscale NMR and T1 relaxometry protocols operating at pT/sqrt(Hz) field sensitivity — the connection to quantum sensing is the cavity: the same Purcell and collective-coupling physics that concentrates optical density of states around a molecule is what is used to improve photon collection and readout fidelity in NV ensembles operating at pT/sqrt(Hz). This is fundamental light-matter physics with a clear nonclassical-state angle.