Ultrafast manipulation of strong coupling in metal-molecular aggregate hybrid nanostructures.

Vasa, P; Pomraenke, R; Cirmi, G; De Re, E; Wang, W; Schwieger, S; Leipold, D; Runge, E et al. · ACS Nano · 2010

basic_science · Level V

Where this comes from

Abstract

We demonstrate an ultrafast manipulation of the Rabi splitting energy Ω(R) in a metal-molecular aggregate hybrid nanostructure. Femtosecond excitation drastically alters the optical properties of a model system formed by coating a gold nanoslit array with a thin J-aggregated dye layer. Controlled and reversible transient switching from strong (Ω(R) ≃ 55 meV) to weak (Ω(R) ≈ 0) coupling on a sub-ps time scale is directly evidenced by mapping the nonequilibrium dispersion relations of the coupled excitations. Such a strong, externally controllable coupling of excitons and surface plasmon polaritons is of considerable interest for ultrafast all-optical switching applications in nanoscale plasmonic circuits.