2023 APS Fellow. Talk Title: Picocavity-enhanced ultraresolved molecular spectroscopy and microscopy*

A plasmonic nanogap is a superb configuration to explore the interplay between light and matter. Light scattered off, or emitted from a nanogap carries the information of the surrounding electromagnetic environment with it. This situation becomes even more appealing when a single molecule is located in a picocavity, with the molecule playing an active role either in the electromagnetic coupling with the picocavity, or even participating in processes of charge injection and transfer, as revealed through cutting-edge molecular spectroscopy. The process of interaction between a molecular emitter and a nanocavity will be addressed by means of different theoretical frameworks involving aspects of condensed matter physics [1] and quantum chemistry [2]. A battery of methodologies to address ultra resolution in atomic-scale photoluminescence will be described, and many of the theoretical insights obtained will be interpreted in the context of state-of-the-art experimental results in picocavity-enhanced molecular spectroscopy.

[1] A. Babaze, R. Esteban, A. G. Borisov, and J. Aizpurua, Nano Lett. 21, 8466-8473 (2021).

[2] A. Roslawska, T. Neuman, B. Doppagne, A. G. Borisov, M. Romeo, F. Scheurer, J. Aizpurua, and G. Schull, Phys. Rev. X 12, 011012 (2022).