CAREER: Gas-Phase Molecular Polaritons: A New Platform for Chemistry under Strong Light-Matter Coupling

职业：气相分子极化子：强光-物质耦合下的化学新平台

基本信息

批准号：
2238865
负责人：
Marissa Weichman
金额：
$ 65万
依托单位：
Princeton University
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
Continuing Grant
财政年份：
2023
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2023-02-15 至 2028-01-31
项目状态：
未结题

来源：
https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2238865&HistoricalAwards=false
关键词：
CAREER Gas Phase Molecular Polaritons

项目摘要

With support from the Chemical Structure, Dynamics, and Mechanisms-A (CSDM-A) Program in the Division of Chemistry, Marissa Weichman of Princeton University is studying how gas-phase chemical processes proceed under strong interactions with light. When molecules are enclosed within an optical cavity, that is, in a device built from reflective mirrors that create a strong confined light field, new states called polaritons can form. These systems exhibit some of the unusual wave-like properties of light and also appear to demonstrate reactivity and photochemistry distinct from ordinary molecules. The principles governing the chemistry of polaritonic molecules are not currently well understood. The Weichman Lab is studying the low-temperature chemistry of isolated, gas-phase molecules under strong cavity coupling to elucidate how the simplest molecular polaritons behave. These discoveries have the potential to inform practical applications for polaritonic technologies in chemistry, materials science, and quantum information science. Professor Weichman is also reforming undergraduate quantum chemistry coursework at Princeton with the goal of broadening participation in the quantum science research community and workforce. The Weichman Lab will focus on pristine gas-phase measurements wherein polariton reaction dynamics can be studied with quantum-state-specificity and without the complications of solvation. While molecular polaritons are now well established in liquids and in solid-state systems, attaining sufficiently strong light-matter interactions for gas-phase molecules has remained a challenge. The Weichman Lab accesses the regime of gas-phase strong coupling at cryogenic temperatures where molecular partition functions are small and inhomogeneous linewidths are narrow. A cryogenic buffer gas cell allows for the preparation of cold, dense molecular ensembles. This source is combined with a feedback-stabilized Fabry-Pérot optical cavity and precision laser scheme to engineer strong coupling of individual rovibrational transitions in gas-phase molecules. The Weichman Lab will harness this apparatus to investigate how benchmark chemical processes, including bimolecular reactions, photodissociation, and photoisomerization, occur under cavity coupling.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

在化学系化学结构、动力学和机理 A (CSDM-A) 项目的支持下，普林斯顿大学的 Marissa Weichman 正在研究当分子被封闭在光的强相互作用下气相化学过程如何进行。光学腔，即在由反射镜构建的能够产生强受限光场的装置中，可以形成称为偏振激元的新状态，这些系统表现出光的一些不寻常的波状特性，并且似乎也表现出反应性和反应性。与普通分子不同的光化学目前尚不清楚极化激元分子的化学原理，魏克曼实验室正在研究强空腔耦合下孤立的气相分子的低温化学，以阐明最简单的分子极化激元的行为。这些发现有可能为极化子技术在化学、材料科学和量子信息科学中的实际应用提供信息，魏克曼教授还在改革普林斯顿大学的本科生量子化学课程，目标是扩大对量子科学的参与。魏克曼实验室将专注于保持极化子反应动力学的原始气相测量，可以通过量子态特异性来研究，并且没有溶剂化的复杂性，而分子极化子现在已经在液体和固态中得到了很好的应用。在分子分配函数很小且线宽不均匀的低温下，获得足够强的气相分子光与物质相互作用仍然是一个挑战。低温缓冲气体池可以制备冷、致密的分子系综，该源与反馈稳定的法布里-珀罗光学腔和精密激光方案相结合，可以设计气相分子中单个振动跃迁的强耦合。魏克曼实验室将利用该设备来反映基准化学过程（包括双分子反应、光解离和光异构化）在空腔耦合下如何发生。该奖项调查了 NSF 的法定使命，并被认为是值得的通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来提供支持。