Polariton Chemistry: Molecules in Cavities and Plasmonic Media

The strong coupling of confined electromagnetic modes and material excitations in the UV-visible, IR, and THz ranges gives rise to hybrid light-matter excitations known as polaritons. While polaritons have been subject of much study in the field of inorganic semiconductor optics, it has been only within the last decade that they have permeated into the molecular sciences, with the prospect that microcavities and nanostructured plasmonic media could significantly alter the physicochemical properties of room-temperature molecular materials including their photoinduced and thermally-activated reactivity, or charge and energy transport characteristics. In this Special Issue, we wish to highlight the theoretical and experimental advances of this burgeoning interdisciplinary field at the crossroads of Chemistry and Physics, as well as to provide an account of its peculiar challenges and future prospects.

Guest Editors: Timur Shegai, Wei Xiong, and Joel Yuen-Zhou with JCP Editor Lasse Jensen