Towards Molecular photonics

Molecules, nature’s building blocks, are fascinating physical objects, being at the boundary of classical and quantum physics. Their nanoscale dimensions and atomic precision make them promising platforms for photonic applications, including light sources and quantum memories(1). In this lecture, I will present our investigation of molecular systems coupled to plasmonic nano cavities(1, 2). Using this state-of-the-art approach, we achieve near video rate measurements of luminescence and Raman spectra at the single molecule limit. Our results provide new insights into single molecule light interactions, revealing phenomena linked to polarizability, permittivity, conductivity, vibrational modes, electronic energy levels, and molecular interactions with their nano environments.

Related publications:
1.     J. Bar-David et al., ACS Nano. 19, 7650–7660 (2025).
2.     A. Boehmke et al., Nano Lett. 25, 15817–15823 (2025).