Efficient cavity-mediated energy transfer between photosynthetic light harvesting complexes from strong to weak coupling regime

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that optical microcavities can enhance excitation energy transfer between photosynthetic complexes, even in weak coupling regimes, potentially improving artificial light-harvesting systems.

Contribution

It provides experimental evidence that microcavities can modulate energy transfer between light-harvesting complexes beyond strong coupling conditions.

Findings

Enhanced exciton-exciton annihilation in cavity samples

Energy transfer improvement persists in weak coupling regime

Microcavities introduce additional connectivity between complexes

Abstract

Excitation energy transfer between photosynthetic light-harvesting complexes is vital for highly efficient primary photosynthesis. Controlling this process is the key for advancing the emerging artificial photosynthetic systems. Here, we experimentally demonstrate the enhanced excitation energy transfer between photosynthetic light-harvesting 2 complexes (LH2) mediated through the Fabry-Perot optical microcavity. Using intensity-dependent pump-probe spectroscopy, we analyse the exciton-exciton annihilation (EEA) due to inter-LH2 energy transfer. Comparing EEA in LH2 within cavity samples and the bare LH2 films, we observe enhanced EEA in cavities indicating improved excitation energy transfer via coupling to a common cavity mode. Surprisingly, the effect remains even in the weak coupling regime. The enhancement is attributed to the additional connectivity between LH2s introduced by the resonant optical microcavity. Our results suggest that optical microcavities can be a strategic tool for modifying excitation energy transfer between molecular complexes, offering a promising approach towards efficient artificial light harvesting.