Nano–electron volt Fourier-limited transition of a single surface-adsorbed molecule

High-resolution spectroscopy allows the probing of weak interactions and subtle phenomena. Although such measurements are routinely performed in the gas phase and in crystalline materials, studies of adsorbed species on surfaces have previously fallen short of the ultimate spectral resolution, where dephasing is eliminated and the transition linewidth is determined by the excited-state lifetime. In this work, we devise an approach to surface preparation and deposition that provides access to Fourier-limited electronic transitions in single molecules on the surface of an organic crystal. By performing spectroscopy and super-resolution microscopy at liquid helium temperature, we shed light on the spectral and spatial features of the adsorbed species. Our results pave the way for investigations in solid-state physics, where angstrom spatial resolution can be combined with high-resolution laser spectroscopy.

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Publication Details

Journal
Science
Published
2026-06-25
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aeg5014
Primary Topic
Quantum, superfluid, helium dynamics
Type
article
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article

Nano–electron volt Fourier-limited transition of a single surface-adsorbed molecule

Irena Deperasińska, Johannes Zirkelbach, Β. Kozankiewicz, Ashley J. Shin et al.
Science
Quantum, superfluid, helium dynamics
article

Nano–electron volt Fourier-limited transition of a single surface-adsorbed molecule

Irena Deperasińska, Johannes Zirkelbach, Β. Kozankiewicz, Ashley J. Shin, Stephan Götzinger, Burak Gurlek, Vahid Sandoghdar, Alexey Shkarin, Tobias Utikal, Masoud Mirzaei
article en

Abstract

High-resolution spectroscopy allows the probing of weak interactions and subtle phenomena. Although such measurements are routinely performed in the gas phase and in crystalline materials, studies of adsorbed species on surfaces have previously fallen short of the ultimate spectral resolution, where dephasing is eliminated and the transition linewidth is determined by the excited-state lifetime. In this work, we devise an approach to surface preparation and deposition that provides access to Fourier-limited electronic transitions in single molecules on the surface of an organic crystal. By performing spectroscopy and super-resolution microscopy at liquid helium temperature, we shed light on the spectral and spatial features of the adsorbed species. Our results pave the way for investigations in solid-state physics, where angstrom spatial resolution can be combined with high-resolution laser spectroscopy.

ScienceVol. 392(6805)
Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (DE), Institute of Physics (PL), Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light (DE), Advanced Optical Technologies (United States) (US), Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter (DE), Polish Academy of Sciences (PL)
Openalex Percentile: Top 99%
Quantum, superfluid, helium dynamics
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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