Reversible Strong Coupling in Silver Nanoparticle Arrays Using Photochromic Molecules

Anne-Laure Baudrion (1) , Antoine Perron (1) , Alessandro Veltri (2) , Alexandre Bouhelier (3) , Pierre-Michel Adam (1) , Renaud Bachelot (1)

1 LNIO - Laboratoire de Nanotechnologie et d'Instrumentation Optique
2 Unical - Università della Calabria [Arcavacata di Rende]
3 ICB - Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire Carnot de Bourgogne

In this Letter, we demonstrate a reversible strong coupling regime between a dipolar surface plasmon resonance and a molecular excited state. This reversible state is experimentally observed on silver nanoparticle arrays embedded in a polymer film containing photochromic molecules. Extinction measurements reveal a clear Rabi splitting of 294 meV, corresponding to ∼13% of the molecular transition energy. We derived an analytical model to confirm our observations, and we emphasize the importance of spectrally matching the polymer absorption with the plasmonic resonance to observe coupled states. Finally, the reversibility of this coupling is illustrated by cycling the photochromic molecules between their two isomeric forms.

Keywords: Plasmon; spiropyran; exciton−plasmon coupling; Rabi splitting; active plasmonics

Domains: Micro and nanotechnologies/Microelectronics; Optics / Photonic

Anne-Laure Baudrion, Antoine Perron, Alessandro Veltri, Alexandre Bouhelier, Pierre-Michel Adam, et al.. Reversible Strong Coupling in Silver Nanoparticle Arrays Using Photochromic Molecules. Nano Letters, 2012, 13 (1), pp.282-286. ⟨10.1021/nl3040948⟩. ⟨hal-02370030⟩