Abstract

Optical microresonators allow enhancement of light-matter interactions by confining light to micro and nanoscale geometries. In the first story, I will describe how we can use optical microresonators as platforms for performing single-molecule photothermal spectroscopy. We will apply this spectrometer to the conductive polymer, PEDOT :PSS, to understand how the properties of the film derive from the properties of the individual polymer molecules. In particular, we will show how our single-particle spectroscopy allows us to reveal long-range ordering that serves to enhance conduction and the mechanism of solvent annealing. In the second story, I will describe how interfacing plasmonic materials with optical microresonators allows access to even greater enhancements by taking advantage of the small mode volumes of the plasmonic resonators.