Ultrafast Triggering of Strong Coupling in a Semiconductor Terahertz Fabry Perot Cavity

Ultrafast Triggering of Strong Coupling in a Semiconductor Terahertz Fabry Perot Cavity | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Ultrafast Triggering of Strong Coupling in a Semiconductor Terahertz Fabry Perot Cavity Sharly Fleischer, Soumitra Hazra, Hanna Turchinsky, Tal Shwartz This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7293989/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Strong light-matter coupling – the hybridization of material excitations with the electromagnetic modes of a photonic resonator, has led to striking modifications in the physical and chemical properties of materials, including their chemical reactivity. To date, experimental studies of these effects have been limited to steady-state conditions, namely long after the formation of polaritons. Here, we overcome this constraint by introducing an ultrafast, optically switchable Fabry–Pérot cavity that enables on-demand triggering of strong coupling with a switch-on time of just a few picoseconds. We demonstrate dynamic activation of strong coupling in the terahertz domain between a cavity mode and the collective vibration of crystalline α-lactose embedded in the cavity. By photoexciting silicon-based cavity mirrors, we induce an abrupt spectral shift and linewidth narrowing of the cavity mode alone – leading to a substantial increase in the Q-factor and tuning the cavity mode into resonance with the vibrational transition of the cavity-embedded material. This, in turn, enables ultrafast light–matter hybridization through the formation of vibrational polaritons. The ability to switch the cavity on demand at picosecond timescales provides access to the early stages of strong coupling, offering new opportunities to study its dynamics and guide chemical reactivity. Physical sciences/Chemistry/Physical chemistry Physical sciences/Materials science/Techniques and instrumentation Physical sciences/Optics and photonics/Optical physics/Polaritons Physical sciences/Optics and photonics/Optical physics/Terahertz optics Physical sciences/Optics and photonics/Optical physics/Ultrafast photonics Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files SupplementaryInformationforsubmission.docx Supplementary information for article Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7293989","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":523601062,"identity":"ba1072f2-45b7-4a65-81c5-a1b8abaf962b","order_by":0,"name":"Sharly Fleischer","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA+UlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYDACCSB+wCAnhyZsYIFfSwKDsTEPVClMiwRBLYk9qFoYcGuRn9387ENim0H6fvYzho95GP7IGxxgfviBoQC3FoM7x4xnALXk9vDkGBvOYDAw3HCAzVgCn8MMJBKMGRLb/uT2MOSYSXxgMGDccIDBDK9f5Gekf2YAOYyH/435jwQGA/sNB9i/4ff+jRyQLQYJPBI5ZgxAWxI3HODBb4vBjZxihoRzBoY9N54VS84wME6eeZinWCIBv8M2M3woM5Bn70/e+JmnQs6273j7xg8f/tjgdhgIMLLBLQViZgZQTBECfwiqGAWjYBSMgpEMAJWrSY6qLKTWAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0213-2165","institution":"Tel Aviv University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Sharly","middleName":"","lastName":"Fleischer","suffix":""},{"id":523601063,"identity":"b0692b2c-c98a-466c-97b8-cd5d2f8b4465","order_by":1,"name":"Soumitra Hazra","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Tel Aviv University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Soumitra","middleName":"","lastName":"Hazra","suffix":""},{"id":523601064,"identity":"7de9d276-14ee-40d6-8f6b-d3cc7f882060","order_by":2,"name":"Hanna Turchinsky","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Tel Aviv University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Hanna","middleName":"","lastName":"Turchinsky","suffix":""},{"id":523601065,"identity":"dd01b8ca-55af-4139-9994-63b82e3b5bad","order_by":3,"name":"Tal Shwartz","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Tel Aviv University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Tal","middleName":"","lastName":"Shwartz","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-08-04 19:01:00","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7293989/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7293989/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":94826065,"identity":"396ea84a-0344-4786-a231-1ff822273cf7","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-31 06:51:02","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1193156,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"MainArticleforsubmission.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7293989/v1_covered_d67612d4-bcf0-4ce9-aecf-e0abe85294e6.pdf"},{"id":94820875,"identity":"d7091b64-6140-43fc-ab73-f5f3fbe755cf","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-31 06:05:18","extension":"docx","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":278221,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Supplementary information for article","description":"","filename":"SupplementaryInformationforsubmission.docx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7293989/v1/e99082539b37b72e4daa0d11.docx"}],"financialInterests":"There is \u003cb\u003eNO\u003c/b\u003e Competing Interest.","formattedTitle":"Ultrafast Triggering of Strong Coupling in a Semiconductor Terahertz Fabry Perot Cavity","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"light-science-and-applications","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"lsa","sideBox":"Learn more about [Light: Science \u0026 Applications](http://www.nature.com/lsa/)","snPcode":"41377","submissionUrl":"https://mts-lsa.nature.com/","title":"Light: Science \u0026 Applications","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"Nature AJ","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7293989/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7293989/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"Strong light-matter coupling – the hybridization of material excitations with the electromagnetic modes of a photonic resonator, has led to striking modifications in the physical and chemical properties of materials, including their chemical reactivity. 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