{
  "abstract": "Collective molecular excitations govern energy transport in light-harvesting and optoelectronic materials. Theory predicts that excitonic band topology can generate edge-confined states, offering a route to direct energy flow in molecular systems, yet experimental evidence is lacking. Here we use scanning tunnelling microscopy-induced luminescence to image Frenkel excitons in two-dimensional zinc phthalocyanine molecular crystals with nanometer resolution. By varying cluster size, we observe the transition from discrete quantum-confined excitations to collective excitonic bands and directly resolve their real-space wavefunctions. We identify an excitonic state localized at the crystal perimeter and show, through comparison with microscopic theory, that it originates from the momentum-resolved non-trivial topology of the bulk excitonic bands. Our results establish molecular crystals as a platform for engineering topological excitonic states and provide a strategy for controlling energy transport through excitonic band engineering.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": "2610.09149",
  "author_total": 10,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Quentin Stein"
    },
    {
      "name": "Sidhartha Nayak"
    },
    {
      "name": "Song Jiang"
    },
    {
      "name": "Jakob Kuhlke"
    },
    {
      "name": "Michelangelo Romeo"
    },
    {
      "name": "Thomas Frederiksen"
    },
    {
      "name": "Fabrice Scheurer"
    },
    {
      "name": "Katharina Kaiser"
    },
    {
      "name": "Tomas Neuman"
    },
    {
      "name": "Guillaume Schull"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/axnb0xxwwtwt1.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.48550/arxiv.2610.09149",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "axnb0xxwwtwt1",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.09149",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": "CC0-1.0",
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "arxiv",
      "cond-mat.mes-hall"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "3107|Topological Materials and Phenomena"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7220995366",
  "pdf_url": "https://arxiv.org/pdf/2610.09149",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-06",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/axnb0xxwwtwt1.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:27:37Z",
      "native_id": "2610.09149",
      "source": "arxiv",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.09149"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "arxiv:cond-mat.mes-hall",
      "subfield": "condensed-matter"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Topological Frenkel excitons in 2D molecular crystals",
  "title_text": "Topological Frenkel excitons in 2D molecular crystals",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:27:37Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/axnb0xxwwtwt1",
  "venue": "arXiv",
  "versions": []
}