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Many-Molecule Reaction Triggered by a Single Photon in Polaritonic Chemistry
Javier Galego1, Francisco J Garcia-Vidal1,2, Johannes Feist1
1Departamento de Física Teórica de la Materia Condensada and Condensed Matter Physics Center (IFIMAC), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, E-28049 Madrid, Spain.
Abstract:
The second law of photochemistry states that, in most cases, no more than one molecule is activated for an excited-state reaction for each photon absorbed by a collection of molecules. In this Letter, we demonstrate that it is possible to trigger a many-molecule reaction using only one photon by strongly coupling the molecular ensemble to a confined light mode. The collective nature of the resulting hybrid states of the system (the so-called polaritons) leads to the formation of a polaritonic "supermolecule" involving the degrees of freedom of all molecules, opening a reaction path on which all involved molecules undergo a chemical transformation. We theoretically investigate the system conditions for this effect to take place and be enhanced.
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