Vibrational Exciton and Polaron Nano-imaging: New Functional Nano-Imaging for Molecular Electronic, Photonic, and Photovoltaic Materials

Properties and functions of molecular materials often emerge from intermolecular interactions and associated nanoscale structure and morphology. However, conventional microscopy techniques lack sensitivity to the low-energy scales of intermolecular interactions, carrier-phonon coupling, and polaron formation leaving a missing link between material structure and observed heterogeneity in the electronic or photonic response. We address this outstanding problem in several novel combinations of spatio-spectral and spatio-temporal infrared nano-imaging.