Giant absorption of light by molecular vibrations on a chip

Karabchevsky, A. and Kavokin, A. V. (2016) Giant absorption of light by molecular vibrations on a chip. Scientific Reports, 6: 21201. ISSN 2045-2322

Abstract

Vibrational overtone spectroscopy of molecules is a powerful tool for drawing information on molecular structure and dynamics. It relies on absorption of near infrared radiation (NIR) by molecular vibrations. Here we show the experimental evidence of giant enhancement of the absorption of light in solutions of organic molecules due to the switch from ballistic to diffusive propagation of light through a channel silicate glass waveguide. We also experimentally address a dynamics of absorption as a function of time of adsorption of the organic molecules on a waveguide. The observed enhancement in diffusion regime is by a factor of 300 in N-Methylaniline and by factor of 80 in Aniline compared to the expected values in the case of ballistic propagation of light in a waveguide. Our results underscore the importance of a guide surface modification and the disordered molecular nano-layer in enhancement of absorption by amines on engineered integrated system.