A&P Seminar - Aaron Rury

The Analytical and Physical Seminar Series presents: Aaron Rury

Wayne State University

Host: Sean Roberts

Title: Electromagnetic Control of Excitonic Interactions in Hybrid Molecular Systems

Location: WEL 2.122

Refreshments served at 3:15pm

Interactions between excitonic excitations help mediate physical processes central to chemical phenomena ranging from photo-chemistry like photosynthesis and radical ion localization in proposed magneto-sensing among some migratory animals. The ability to control excitonic interactions in synthetic materials could enable the application of molecular systems in a wider variety of technological applications that mimic these and other biological functioning. In this presentation, I will discuss two research areas where we have developed electromagnetic handles to control how excitons interact towards these technological developments. First, I will detail how one can use the strong coupling of light and matter within electromagnetic cavities to decouple excitonic behavior from dynamical disorder induced by molecular vibrations. These results provide baseline characteristics to enhance molecule-molecule interactions to overcome limitations on exciton transfer rates due to vibrationally modulated energy overlaps. Second, I will show how the application of external magnetic fields can control the interactions between excitons in hybrid organic-inorganic perovskite materials. These results not only uncover the rich couplings between excitonic excitations in these solution-processed materials but also show how they can be controlled for important technological applications central to magnetic sensing and photon-based quantum information processing. Taken together, our results highlight the essential role that external electromagnetic fields can play in enhancing the behavior of hybrid molecular systems for next generation technologies.