Mainz 2026 – scientific programme

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Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik

Q 29: Poster – Quantum Technologies I

Q 29.33: Poster

Tuesday, March 3, 2026, 17:00–19:00, Philo 2. OG

Coupling single molecules to high-frequency acoustic vibrations — •Mojtaba Aghakasiri¹, Mohammad Musavinezhad¹, Jan Renger¹, Tobias Utikal¹, Felix Mayor², Sultan Malik², Kaveh Pezeshki², Amir Safavi-Naeini², Vahid Sandoghdar¹, and Alexey Shkarin¹ — ¹Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light, Erlangen, Germany — ²Department of Applied Physics, Stanford University, Stanford, USA

Single organic dye molecules are promising building block for solid-state photonic quantum technologies. At cryogenic temperatures they demonstrate strong light-matter interaction, negligible dephasing, and high spectral stability. However, they confront the challenge of nanosecond-scale coherence time limited by the optical excited state lifetime. One way to circumvent this restriction, is to couple molecules to localized acoustic modes in their environment, which could be engineered to have millisecond-scale lifetime.

Here we report on such a hybrid nanophotonic-nanomechanical platform that combines wavelength-scale acoustic waveguides with printed organic host nanocrystals containing single quantum emitters. By exciting guided acoustic modes, we induce a controlled strain field that drives the localized acoustic modes of the nanocrystal and dynamically modulates the molecular resonance frequency. This platform allows for systematic exploration of geometry-dependent coupling strength and mechanical mode lifetime, establishing a route towards engineering systems combining optical access of single quantum emitters and high coherence and versatility of mechanical systems.

Keywords: quantum emitters; single-molecule spectroscopy; hybrid quantum systems; optomechanics; acoustic modes