Photostabilization of J-aggregate cyanine dyes for exciton-polariton based devices

Organic molecules are becoming a commonly used material in strongly coupled systems as they possess large exciton binding energies and huge oscillator strengths that have allowed for the creation of room temperature polariton condensates, superfluids, and other exotic phenomena. Using J-aggregates, the aggregated form of cyanine organic dyes, we have previously fabricated light-emitting devices that demonstrated the first ever electrically pumped polariton emission, as well as critically coupled resonators with record high effective absorption constants. Although there are many promising applications for organic exciton-polariton devices, state-of-the- art devices suffer from rapid photodegradation at higher photon densities, which presently limits their eventual implementation into a viable technology. To achieve stable devices, we need to isolate the causes of photodegradation. Specifically, we studied the photoluminescence stability of J-aggregate thin films under different atmospheric conditions. Our results indicated that J-aggregates maintain both better emission and stability in high humidity environments in comparison to oxygen-rich atmospheres. Furthermore, we show an order of magnitude improvement in the photostability via encapsulation of the film with a hygroscopic sugar encapsulant. These results are highly promising and suggest future pathways for the realization of functional and stable polariton-based devices which we will explore in this thesis.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2018

Author dc:creator

• Cao, Yumeng Melody

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Vladimir Bulović.

• Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

Statement dc:rights

• MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/118061

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/118061