Quantum Optics with Organic Molecules

Laboratory manipulation of single quantum emitters and single photons has matured to a routine procedure over the past two decades. Nevertheless, each solid-state emitter system (quantum dots, color centers, ions, etc) is still confronted with a range of material constraints that pose challenges for scaling and reliable use in devices. Our group has explored organic molecules in the class of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) for about 25 years. In this presentation, I discuss our efforts of the last decade in coupling molecules to high-finesse Fabry-Perot open cavities, plasmonic nano-antennas and chip-based photonic circuits. We demonstrate dipole-induced transparency, strong coupling, single-photon nonlinearities as well as the cooperativity of two molecules via a common mode of a micro-resonator. Moreover, I present data on high-resolution spectroscopy of the vibronic transitions in single molecules as well as a theoretical proposal for a hybrid optomechanical platform that can lead to long coherence and storage times.