title: Strong coupling between chlorosomes of photosynthetic bacteria and a confined optical cavity mode.
abstract: Strong exciton-photon coupling is the result of a reversible exchange of energy between an excited state and a confined optical field. This results in the formation of polariton states that have energies different from the exciton and photon. We demonstrate strong exciton-photon coupling between light-harvesting complexes and a confined optical mode within a metallic optical microcavity. The energetic anti-crossing between the exciton and photon dispersions characteristic of strong coupling is observed in reflectivity and transmission with a Rabi splitting energy on the order of 150 meV, which corresponds to about 1,000 chlorosomes coherently coupled to the cavity mode. We believe that the strong coupling regime presents an opportunity to modify the energy transfer pathways within photosynthetic organisms without modification of the molecular structure.
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PH, UK.
authors.forename: David M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Coles
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts 01610-1477, USA.
authors.forename: Yanshen
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts 01610-1477, USA.
authors.forename: Yaya
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics &Astronomy, University of Sheffield, Hicks Building, Hounsfield Road, Sheffield S3 7RH, UK.
authors.forename: Richard T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Grant
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PU, UK.
authors.forename: Robert A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, 12 Oxford Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA [2] Institute of Physics, Kazan Federal University, 18 Kremlevskaya Street, Kazan 420008, Russian Federation.
authors.forename: Semion K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Saikin
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, 12 Oxford Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.
authors.forename: Alán
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aspuru-Guzik
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics &Astronomy, University of Sheffield, Hicks Building, Hounsfield Road, Sheffield S3 7RH, UK.
authors.forename: David G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Lidzey
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts 01610-1477, USA.
authors.forename: Joseph Kuo-Hsiang
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PH, UK.
authors.forename: Jason M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Smith
mesh_terms: D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D019414:Chlorobi / Q000378:metabolism*; D004735:Energy Transfer; D007506:Iron-Sulfur Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D008027:Light; D015388:Organelles / Q000378:metabolism*; D017785:Photons; D010788:Photosynthesis / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D007506:Iron-Sulfur Proteins