Cavity-Modified Chemical Reaction Kinetics and Electrochemical Modulation of Coupling Strength

Quantum emitters strongly coupled to optical cavities exchange energy inextricably, creating new hybrid polaritons. Recently, this half-light half-matter quasi-state has been demonstrated with molecular vibrations coherently coupled to optical modes. In this talk, we discuss (1) cavity-modified chemical reactivity and (2) modulation of the strong coupling phenomenon via electrochemical reaction. Specifically, we monitor transmission of a Fabry-Pérot microcavity filled with reactive species. Both reactants and products have strong molecular vibrations that couple to the optical cavity modes. We compare reaction rates in and out of the cavity to expose the influence of vibrational strong coupling on reaction kinetics. Secondly, we evaluate electrochemical switching of cavity coupling magnitude in both the visible and infrared regimes. Our results demonstrate full modulation of the Rabi splitting, a diffusion-limited redox process, and imaging of molecular adsorption/desorption processes on the metal surface. These results have important implications for chemical synthesis and catalysis.