Spatial modulation of light transmission through a single microcavity by coupling of photosynthetic complex excitations to surface plasmons

Itai Carmeli, Moshik Cohen, Omri Heifler, Yigal Lilach, Zeev Zalevsky, Vladimiro Mujica, Shachar Richter

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

18 Scopus citations

Abstract

Molecule-plasmon interactions have been shown to have a definite role in light propagation through optical microcavities due to strong coupling between molecular excitations and surface plasmons. This coupling can lead to macroscopic extended coherent states exhibiting increment in temporal and spatial coherency and a large Rabi splitting. Here, we demonstrate spatial modulation of light transmission through a single microcavity patterned on a free-standing Au film, strongly coupled to one of the most efficient energy transfer photosynthetic proteins in nature, photosystem I. Here we observe a clear correlation between the appearance of spatial modulation of light and molecular photon absorption, accompanied by a 13-fold enhancement in light transmission and the emergence of a distinct electromagnetic standing wave pattern in the cavity. This study provides the path for engineering various types of bio-photonic devices based on the vast diversity of biological molecules in nature.

Original languageEnglish
Article number7334
JournalNature Communications
Volume6
DOIs
StatePublished - 9 Jun 2015

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