Manipulating Attosecond Charge Migration in Molecules by Optical Cavities

J Am Chem Soc. 2023 Jul 12;145(27):14856-14864. doi: 10.1021/jacs.3c03821. Epub 2023 Jun 30.

Abstract

The ultrafast electronic charge dynamics in molecules upon photoionization while the nuclear motions are frozen is known as charge migration. In a theoretical study of the quantum dynamics of photoionized 5-bromo-1-pentene, we show that the charge migration process can be induced and enhanced by placing the molecule in an optical cavity, and can be monitored by time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy. The collective nature of the polaritonic charge migration process is investigated. We find that, unlike spectroscopy, molecular charge dynamics in a cavity is local and does not show many-molecule collective effects. The same conclusion applies to cavity polaritonic chemistry.