The Maya of Central America developed a complex society: among their many achievements they developed a writing system, complex calendar and were prolific builders. The buildings of their large urban centres, such as Copan in Honduras, were decorated with painted stucco, moulded masks, carving and elaborate murals, using a range of coloured pigments. In this study the paints used on the buildings of Copan and some ceramic sherds have been investigated, non-destructively, using micro-Raman spectroscopy, micro-ATR infrared spectroscopy, environmental scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray analysis (ESEM-EDX) and FTIR-ATR imaging spectroscopy. The paint samples come from four buildings and one tomb covering three time periods in the four hundred year history of Copan. The main pigment used in the red paint on these samples was identified as haematite, and the stucco as a mixture of calcite particles dispersed throughout a calcite-based lime wash stucco. The composition and physical nature of the stucco changed through time, indicating a refining of production techniques over this period. A range of minor mineral components have been identified in each of the samples including rutile, quartz, clay and carbon. The presence and proportion of these and other minerals differed in each sample, leading to unique mineral signatures for the paint from each time period. Green and grey paints have also been identified on one of the buildings, the Rosalila Temple. The green pigment was identified as a celadonite-based green earth, and the grey pigment as a mixture of carbon and muscovite. The combination of carbon and mica to create a reflective paint is a novel finding in Maya archaeology. The high spatial resolution of the micro-FTIR-ATR spectral imaging system has been used to resolve individual particles in tomb wall paint and to identify their mineralogy from their spectra. This system has been used in combination with micro-Raman spectroscopy and ESEM-EDX mapping to characterize the paint, which was found to be a mixture of haematite and silicate particles, with minor amounts of calcite, carbon and magnetite particles, in a sub-micron haematite and calcite matrix. The blending of a high percentage of silicate particles into the haematite pigment is unique the tomb sample. The stucco in this tomb wall paint has finely ground carbon dispersed throughout the top layer providing a dark base for the paint layer. Changing paint mixtures and stucco composition were found to correlate with changes in paint processing techniques and building construction methods over the four hundred years of site occupation.

Starke Kopplung von Molekülen mit einem räumlich begrenzten Lichtfeld führt zur Bildung neuer polaritonischer Eigenzustände des Systems, die sowohl molekulare als auch photonische Eigenschaften erhalten und somit ein großes Potenzial für Anwendungen in der Chemie und Optoelektronik besitzen. In dieser Arbeit wird die Kopplung zwischen Oberflächenplasmonen Polaritonen (SPPs), die als das räumlich begrenzte Lichtfeld agieren, und molekularen Anregungen wie Schwingungen und polaronischen Resonanzen untersucht. Das starke Kopplungsregime zwischen einer Molekülschwingung und einem SPP wird zum ersten Mal im mittleren Infrarot unter Verwendung der Carbonylschwingung von Poly(vinylmethylketon) Polymer und Silber als Ausbreitungsmedium von SPPs demonstriert. Die neu gebildeten Hybridmoden werden durch Experimente und numerische Modellierung untersucht, wobei Messungen der abgeschwächten Totalreflexion und der thermischen Emission sowie Berechnungen mittels der Transfermatrix und der linearen Dispersionstheorie verwendet werden. Ein Anticrossing in der Dispersion der Polariton-Zweige mit einer Energieaufspaltung bis zu 15 meV, was die Hauptsignatur des starken Kopplungsregimes ist, wird beobachtet. Die starke Kopplung mit Zinkgalliumoxid, einem hochdotierten Halbleiter als Alternative zu Edelmetallen, wird auch untersucht. Experimentelle und simulierte Reflektometrie-Spektren sowie Dispersionsrelationen werden diskutiert, um Rückschlüsse auf die Eigenschaften des Systems zu ziehen. Außerdem wird ein Ansatz zur Verbesserung der Leitfähigkeit organischer Halbleiterpolymere durch starke Kopplung ihrer polaronischen Zustände an SPPs vorgestellt und Leitfähigkeitsmessungen durchgeführt. Ziel ist es, die Delokalisierung der Hybridzustände auszunutzen, um die Leitfähigkeit zu verändern. Die präsentierten Ergebnisse bieten neue Einblicke in den Nutzen der Eigenschaften der Licht-Materie-Hybridisierung, um ihr volles Potenzial für verschiedene Bereiche und Anwendungen zu erforschen. / Strong coupling of molecules with a confined light field results in the formation of new polaritonic eigenstates of the system called polaritons that inherit both molecular and photonic characteristics and thus holds strong potential for applications in chemistry and optoelectronics. In this work, coupling between propagating surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs), as confined light field, and molecular excitations, such as vibrational resonances and polaronic features, is investigated. The strong coupling regime between a molecular vibration and a propagating SPP is demonstrated for the first time in the mid-infrared spectral range using the carbonyl stretch vibration of Poly(vinyl methyl ketone) polymer and silver as metallic medium for SPPs propagation. The newly formed hybrid modes are investigated through experiments and numerical modelling, employing attenuated-total-reflection and thermal emission measurements as well as transfer-matrix and linear dispersion theory calculations. An anticrossing behavior in the dispersion of the polariton branches with an energy splitting up to 15meV, which is a key signature of the strong coupling regime, is observed. Strong coupling involving zinc gallium oxide, which is a highly doped semiconductor, as an alternative to noble metals is also investigated. Experimental and simulated reflectometry spectra as well as the dispersion relations are discussed so as to draw conclusions about the properties of the system. Furthermore, an approach to enhance the conductivity of organic semiconductor polymers by strongly coupling their polaronic states to SPPs is presented and four-point probe measurements are conducted. The goal is to exploit the delocalization of the hybrid states to alter the conductivity of the organic semiconductor. The results presented in this thesis provide new insights into the profit from the properties of light-matter hybridization in order to explore its full potential for several areas and applications.