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This study reveals that quadruply bonded Mo2 molecules can act as innate emitter-resonator quantum systems, effectively trapping visible light photons between the two molybdenum atoms under ambient conditions. The researchers observed significant phenomena such as vacuum Rabi splitting and Mollow triplets in the resonance fluorescence spectra, indicating coherent coupling between the Mo-Mo charge transfer transition and the local scattering field. These findings not only highlight the Mo2 molecule's capabilities for quantum optical experiments in free space but also advance our understanding of light-matter interactions and molecular bonding in quantum electrodynamics.
Mo2 molecules can trap light and generate intense quantized electromagnetic fields, revolutionizing quantum optical experiments in free space.
In recent decades, significant progress has been made in constructing and studying individual quantum systems based on two level atoms (molecules) and photons. Here we demonstrate that the quadruply bonded Mo2 unit, with a MoMo bond distance as short as 2.1A, functions as an innate emitter resonator molecular quantum system capable of trapping visible light photons between the two molybdenum atoms under ambient conditions, thereby generating an intense quantized local electromagnetic field with an extremely small mode volume. The resonance fluorescence spectra of three Mo2 complexes indicate that the intermetallic Mo-Mo charge transfer transition is coherently coupled to the local scattering field, exhibiting vacuum Rabi splitting and Mollow triplets. Resonant coupling of single molecules and N-molecule ensembles to the scattered light through sideband excitation produces a sequence of discrete optical modes spanning a broad wavelength range, with polaritonic transitions identical to those observed in Ni2 based systems. These results establish the Mo2 molecule as an independent emitter resonator integrated quantum system that enables quantum optical experiments in free space using conventional spectroscopic instrumentation. This work extends quantum electrodynamics into molecular science, providing new insights into metal metal bonding, molecular physics, and light matter interactions.
