arXiv subjects

Adarsh B Vasista

Publications and source records attributed to Adarsh B Vasista.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Effusivity-Controlled Interfacial Thermal Transport Revealed by Nanoscale Optical Thermometry

Quantitative imaging of heat transport with high spatial and temporal resolution is essential for understanding thermal processes in heterogeneous systems, yet direct measurements of transient temperature fields at material interfaces remain challenging. Here, we employ time resolved thermal optical diffraction tomography (thermal ODT), a label free nanoscale optical thermometry technique that reconstructs spatio-temporal evolution of three dimensional temperature fields from thermally induced refractive index changes. We show that thermal diffusion along an interface is controlled by their thermal effusivity contrast. We also derive an effective interfacial diffusivity that accurately describes the lateral propagation of thermal fields and validate the model through finite-element simulations across a broad range of liquid-glass interfaces. Surprisingly, liquids with lower bulk thermal diffusivities exhibit faster interfacial thermal spreading due to their lower effusivities. The measured diffusivities agree quantitatively with theoretical predictions over diverse material combinations. By combining volumetric thermal imaging with a general framework for interfacial heat transport, our work establishes thermal ODT as a powerful platform for investigating nanoscale thermodynamics and engineering heat flow in heterogeneous environments.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2023

Non steady-state thermometry with optical diffraction tomography

Measurement of local temperature using label-free optical methods has gained importance as a pivotal tool in both fundamental and applied research. Yet, most of these approaches are limited to steady-state measurements of planar heat sources. However, the time taken to reach steady-state is a complex function of the volume of the heated system, the size of the heat source, and the thermal conductivity of the surroundings. As such, said time can be significantly longer than expected and many relevant systems involve 3D heat sources, thus compromising reliable temperature retrieval. Here, we systematically study the thermal landscape in a model system consisting of optically excited gold nanorods (AuNRs) in a microchamber using optical diffraction tomography (ODT) thermometry. We experimentally unravel the effect of thermal conductivity of the surroundings, microchamber height, and pump pulse duration on the thermodynamics of the microchamber. We benchmark our experimental observations against 2D numerical sumulations and quantitative phase imaging (QPI) thermometry. We also demonstrate the advantage of ODT thermometry by measuring thermal landscapes inaccessible by QPI thermometry in the form of non-planar heat sources embedded in complex environments such as biological cells. Finally, we apply ODT thermometry to a complex dynamic system consisting of colloidal AuNRs in a microchamber.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2021

Strong Coupling of Multimolecular Species to Soft Microcavities

Can we couple multiple molecular species to soft-cavities? The answer to this question has relevance in designing open cavities for polaritonic chemistry applications. Due to the differences in adhesiveness it is difficult to couple multiple molecular species to open cavities in a controlled and precise manner. In this letter, we discuss the procedure to coat multiple dyes, TDBC and S2275, using a layer-by-layer deposition technique onto a dielectric microsphere so as to facilitate the multi molecule coupling. We observed the formation of a middle polariton branch due to the inter-molecular mixing facilitated by the whispering gallery modes. The coupling strength,2g, of the TDBC molecules were found to be 98 meV while that of S2275 molecules was 78 meV. The coupling strength was found to be greater than the cavity linewidth and the molecular absorption linewidth showing the system is in the strong coupling regime.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2021

Effect of molecular absorption and vibrational modes in polariton assisted photoemission from a layered molecular material

The way molecules absorb, transfer, and emit light can be modified by coupling them to optical cavities. The extent of the modification is often defined by the cavity-molecule coupling strength, which depends on the number of coupled molecules. We experimentally and numerically study the evolution of photoemission from a thin layered J-aggregated molecular material strongly coupled to a Fabry-Perot microcavity as a function of the number of coupled layers. We unveil an important difference between the strong coupling signatures obtained from reflection spectroscopy and from polariton assisted photoluminescence. We also study the effect of the vibrational modes supported by the molecular material on the polariton assisted emission both for a focused laser beam and for normally incident excitation, for two different excitation wavelengths: a laser in resonance with the lower polariton branch, and a laser not in resonance. We found that the Raman scattered photons play an important role in populating the lower polariton branch, especially when the system was excited with a laser in resonance with the lower polariton branch. We also found that the polariton assisted photoemission depends on the extent of modification of the molecular absorption induced by the molecule-cavity coupling.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2021

Mirror enhanced directional out-coupling of SERS by remote excitation of a nanowire-nanoparticle cavity

We report on the experimental observation of mirror enhanced directional surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) from a self-assembled monolayer of molecules coupled to a nanowire-nanoparticle (NW-NP) junction on a mirror in remote excitation configuration. Placing NW-NP junction on a metallic mirror generates multiple gap plasmon modes which have unique momentum space scattering signatures. We perform Fourier plane imaging of SERS from NW-NP on a mirror to understand the effect of multiple hotspots on molecular emission. We systematically study the effect of ground plane on the directionality of emission from NW-NP junction and show that the presence of a mirror drastically reduces angular spread of emission. The effect of multiple hotspots in the geometry on directionality of molecular emission is studied using 3D numerical simulations. The results presented here will have implications in understanding plasmon hybridization in the momentum space and its effects on molecular emission.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2020

Differential molecule-cavity mode coupling in soft-cavities

The way molecules absorb, transfer, and emit light can be dramatically modified by coupling them to optical cavities. The extent of the modification is often defined by the cavity-molecule coupling strength. Evaluating this coupling strength for different types of modes supported by a cavity is crucial in designing cavities for molecule-cavity coupling. Here we probe a unique multimode cavity, a dielectric microsphere, also called a soft-cavity, which supports two distinct types of mode, dark-field scattering (DFS) modes and whispering gallery modes (WGM). Though seemingly similar, these modes show different characteristics such as spatial electric field profile, resonance line-width etc. We investigated coupling of a mono-layer of J-aggregated dye molecules and a dielectric plastic microsphere using two techniques, far-field excitation and evanescent excitation to generate DFS modes and WGMs respectively. We found that using WGMs we observe a clear signature of strong coupling, whereas with DFS modes we do not. We compared our experimental data to a simple coupled oscillator model and performed finite-element method based numerical simulations to provide a clearer understanding of our experimental findings.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2020

Molecular monolayer strong coupling in dielectric soft microcavities

We report strong coupling of a monolayer of J-aggregated dye molecules to the whispering gallery modes of a dielectric microsphere at room temperature. We systematically studied the evolution of strong coupling as the number of layers of dye molecules was increased, we found the Rabi splitting to rise from 56 meV for a single layer to 94 meV for four layers of dye molecules. We compare our experimental results with 2D numerical simulations and a simple coupled oscillator model, finding good agreement. We anticipate that these results will act as a stepping stone for integrating molecule-cavity strong coupling in a microfluidic environment since microspheres can be easily trapped and manipulated in such an environment, and provide open access cavities.

physics.optics↗