2024/02/06 by Tao E. Li, Li, Tao E. · 3 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Chemical Physics (physics.chem-ph) #FOS: Physical sciences #Mechanical and Optical Resonators #Optics (physics.optics) #Quantum Electrodynamics and Casimir Effect #Quantum Physics (quant-ph) #Strong Light-Matter Interactions
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2402.04246
openalex publication_date 2024/02/06 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
A remote energy transfer pathway from electronic to vibrational degrees of freedom is identified inside an infrared optical cavity under vibrational strong coupling conditions. This mechanism relies on the dynamical Casimir effect, whereby real infrared photons are generated due to a sudden electronic transition of anisotropic molecules. Moreover, the formation of vibrational polaritons enables the excited photon energy to be transferred to the vibrational degrees of freedom before any dissipation occurs. Both analytic solutions and numerical simulations reveal that the magnitude of this electronic to vibrational energy transfer depends quadratically on the number of molecules and resonantly on the vibration-cavity detuning. During this "supervibronic" transition process, because the vibrational energy gain per molecule can be meaningful in the macroscopic limit, this process may potentially be observed using conventional vibrational strong coupling devices.