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arXiv · 2602.09243

Electronic Strong Coupling of Gas-Phase Molecular Iodine

Jane C. Nelson·Trevor H. Wright·Neo Lin·Madeline Rohde·Marissa L. Weichman
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Abstract

Molecular polaritons, hybrid light-matter states formed from the strong coupling of molecular transitions and discrete photonic modes, are a compelling platform for optical control of chemical reactivity. Despite the origins of the field of polaritonics in atomic gases, strong coupling of molecular gases remains underexplored. The pristine, solvent-free gas-phase environment may prove ideal for gaining mechanistic understanding of molecular behavior under strong light-matter coupling. In this work, we achieve electronic strong coupling of the B-X, $\nu_1$ = 0$\rightarrow$32, J = 53$\rightarrow$52 and B-X, $\nu_1$ = 0$\rightarrow$34, J = 103$\rightarrow$102 rovibronic transitions of gas-phase iodine (I$_2$) lying near 532.2 nm. We access a range of coupling strengths and detuning conditions with fine control over molecular number density and cavity length stabilization. This effort represents the first demonstration of electronic polaritons in a molecular gas and opens a new platform for polariton photochemistry and photophysics.

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Jane C. Nelson, Trevor H. Wright, Neo Lin, Madeline Rohde, Marissa L. Weichman. 2026-02-09. Electronic Strong Coupling of Gas-Phase Molecular Iodine. https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.09243

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