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 en...

We present results on the rates of interlayer energy transfer between excitons in two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs). We consider both radiative (mediated by real photons) and non-radiative (mediated by virtual photons) mechanisms of energy transfer using a unified Green’s function approach that takes into account modification of the exciton energy dispersions as a result o...

Resonant Raman spectroscopy of single carbon nanotubes suspended across trenches displays red-shifts of up to 30 meV of the electronic transition energies as a function of the surrounding dielectric environment. We develop a simple scaling relationship between the exciton binding energy and the external dielectric function and thus quantify the effect of screening. Our results imply that the un...

The optical transitions of semiconducting carbon nanotubes have been ascribed to excitons. Here we use two-photon excitation spectroscopy to measure exciton binding energies, as well as band-gap energies, in a range of individual species of semiconducting SWNTs. Exciton binding energies are large and vary inversely with nanotube diameter, as predicted by theory. Band-gap energies are significan...

In photosynthesis absorbed sun light produces collective excitations (excitons) that form a coherent superposition of electronic and vibrational states of the individual pigments. Two-dimensional (2D) electronic spectroscopy allows a visualization of how these coherences are involved in the primary processes of energy and charge transfer. Based on quantitative modeling we identify the exciton-v...

Photosynthesis begins with light harvesting, where specialized pigment-protein complexes transform sunlight into electronic excitations delivered to reaction centres to initiate charge separation. There is evidence that quantum coherence between electronic excited states plays a role in energy transfer. In this review, we discuss how quantum coherence manifests in photosynthetic light harvestin...

Photoluminescence (PL) properties of single-layer MoS2 are indicated to have strong correlations with the surrounding dielectric environment. Blue shifts of up to 40 meV of exciton or trion PL peaks were observed as a function of the dielectric constant of the environment. These results can be explained by the dielectric screening effect of the Coulomb potential; based on this, a scaling relati...