Vinod Menon

Strong light–matter interaction leads to the formation of hybrid quasiparticles – polaritons, that inherit properties from both photons and material excitations. In this talk, I will first introduce the concept of strong light–matter coupling and the unique advantages offered by polaritonic systems. I will then discuss our recent work on realizing magneto-polaritons in the van der Waals magnet CrSBr, demonstrating how the magneto-optic response can be controlled by tuning the light and matter content of the polariton states [1]. I will also highlight the role of spin waves (magnons) in modifying excitonic interactions within this material platform [2], as well as the potential of this system for microwave-to-optical transduction [3].

In the second part of the talk, I will present the formation of out-of-equilibrium polariton condensates at room temperature using organic molecular excitons [4] and their role in energy transfer in a donor-acceptor system. Following this, I will discuss approaches for creating optically imprinted lattices in these systems [5] and its potential for physical computing.

[1] F. Dirnberger et al. Nature vol. 620, p. 533 (2023).
[2] B. Datta, P. Adak, S. Yu et al., Nature Materials vol. 24, p. 1027 (2025)
[3] P. Adak et al. ArXiv:2604.03441 (2026)
[4] D. Choi et al. Adv. Opt. Mat. vol. 13, 2500086b (2025)
[5] J. Chapman et al. Optica 12, 1873-1877 (2025)