The observation that the properties of materials can change when placed inside an optical cavity, suggests that cavities may be promising tools for engineering materials. By confining light into smaller volumes, optical cavities increase the interaction between the material and light, which can lead to the formation of new hybrid light-matter states called polaritons. The coherent superposition of excitations in the material and of the cavity not only delocalizes the excitation over many molecules inside the material but also changes their potential energy surface. This project seeks to understand this phenomenon with the help of simulations on supercomputers, as a first step towards leveraging the fascinating aspects of polaritons for new devices.

2025

2027