Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41706860›Full record

ArticleScience advances2026

"Direct" measurement of delocalized molecular excitonic wave functions through excitonic and vibronic photon imaging.

Yang Luo, Gong Chen, Li Zhang, Yun-Jie Yu, Qiu-Shi Meng, Fan-Fang Kong, Xiao-Jun Tian, Yao Zhang, Yang Zhang, Zhen-Chao Dong

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Science advances, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

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0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Yang LuoHefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale and CAS Center for Excellence in Quantum Information and Quantum Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China.ORCID 0000-0003-0887-934X
Gong ChenHefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale and CAS Center for Excellence in Quantum Information and Quantum Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China.ORCID 0009-0009-0240-1725
Li ZhangHefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale and CAS Center for Excellence in Quantum Information and Quantum Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China.ORCID 0009-0006-0534-8489
Yun-Jie YuHefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale and CAS Center for Excellence in Quantum Information and Quantum Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China.
Qiu-Shi MengHefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale and CAS Center for Excellence in Quantum Information and Quantum Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China.
Fan-Fang KongHefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale and CAS Center for Excellence in Quantum Information and Quantum Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China.ORCID 0000-0002-9262-7446
Xiao-Jun TianHefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale and CAS Center for Excellence in Quantum Information and Quantum Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China.
Yao ZhangHefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale and CAS Center for Excellence in Quantum Information and Quantum Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China.ORCID 0000-0002-6524-0289
Yang ZhangHefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale and CAS Center for Excellence in Quantum Information and Quantum Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China.ORCID 0000-0002-0118-8717
Zhen-Chao DongHefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale and CAS Center for Excellence in Quantum Information and Quantum Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China.ORCID 0000-0002-4596-6269

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Delocalized excitons govern the optoelectronic properties of molecular materials, yet the real-space reconstruction of their wave functions-the spatial distribution of amplitude and phase-has remained a long-standing scientific goal. Here, we demonstrate that scanning tunneling microscopy-induced luminescence enables real-space reconstruction of amplitude and phase of delocalized excitonic states in molecular chains. Through subnanometer-resolved photon imaging of linear molecular chains, coherent purely excitonic (0-0) emission patterns reveal the wave function's relative phases, while incoherent vibronic (0-1) emission maps the squared wave function amplitudes. This near-field technique enables the reconstruction of wave functions for both bright superradiant states and optically dark subradiant states inaccessible by conventional far-field optics. Furthermore, the submolecular resolution of the vibronic maps allows for the contributions of different vibrational symmetries, namely, Franck-Condon and Herzberg-Teller modes, to be distinguished. Our findings establish a unique approach for the excitonic wave function reconstruction and open a route for exploring exciton dynamics and interactions in molecular systems.

Identifiers

PMID41706860
PMCPMC12915604

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