Control and Enhancement of Single-Molecule Electroluminescence through Strong Light-Matter Coupling.

Abstract

The energetic positions of molecular electronic states at molecule/electrode interfaces are crucial factors for determining the transport and optoelectronic properties of molecular junctions. Strong light-matter coupling offers a potential for manipulating these factors, enabling a boost in the efficiency and versatility of these junctions. Here, we investigate electroluminescence from single-molecule junctions in which the molecule is strongly coupled with the vacuum electromagnetic field in a plasmonic nanocavity. We demonstrate an improvement in the electroluminescence efficiency by employing the strong light-matter coupling in conjunction with the characteristic feature of single-molecule junctions to selectively control the formation of the lowest-energy excited state. The mechanism of efficiency improvement is discussed based on the energetic position and composition of the formed polaritonic states. Our findings indicate the possibility to manipulate optoelectronic conversion in molecular junctions by strong light-matter coupling and contribute to providing design principles for developing efficient molecular optoelectronic devices.