Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 22, 2026

Determination of the Excitation and Coupling Rates Between Light Emitters and Surface Plasmon Polaritons
Published on: July 21, 2018
Quantum dynamics of a molecular emitter strongly coupled with surface plasmon polaritons: A macroscopic quantum
Siwei Wang1, Gregory D Scholes1, Liang-Yan Hsu2
1Department of Chemistry, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA.
Abstract:
We study a molecular emitter above a silver surface in the framework of macroscopic quantum electrodynamics and explore the population dynamics including non-Markovian effects. The theory we present is general for molecular fluorescence in the presence of dielectrics with any space-dependent, frequency-dependent, or complex dielectric functions. Furthermore, the proposed theory allows us to calculate the memory kernel of polaritons using computational electrodynamics packages. In the limit of a high vibration frequency, the different strengths of exciton-polariton couplings lead to distinct characteristics in the population dynamics, e.g., Franck-Condon-Rabi oscillation. (The frequency of Rabi oscillation is dependent on the Franck-Condon factor.) Additionally, in a specific condition, we derive a parameter-free formula that can be used to estimate the exciton-polariton coupling between a molecular emitter and a nanocavity, and the coupling estimated by our theory is in good agreement with the reported experimental results [Chikkaraddy et al., Nature 535, 127-130 (2016)].
Related Concept Videos
Quantum Numbers
The Quantum-Mechanical Model of an Atom
2D NMR: Heteronuclear Single-Quantum Correlation Spectroscopy (HSQC)
Spin–Spin Coupling: Two-Bond Coupling (Geminal Coupling)
The central atom need not be NMR-active because its electrons are affected by the electron polarization of the spin-active atoms. However, spin information is transmitted less effectively than in one-bond coupling, and 2J values are usually weaker than 1J values. The energy of...
Spin–Spin Coupling: Three-Bond Coupling (Vicinal Coupling)
The extent of coupling depends on the C‑C bond length, the two H‑C‑C angles, any electron-withdrawing substituents, and the dihedral angle between the involved orbitals. The...
Dynamic Equilibrium

