Interaction-induced hopping phase in driven-dissipative coupled photonic microcavities.

Area of Science:

• Quantum optics
• Condensed matter physics
• Photonic systems

Background:

• The Bose-Hubbard model (BHM) is crucial for understanding interacting bosons.
• Optical lattices with atoms have successfully simulated the BHM.
• Implementing BHM with photons in nonlinear cavities is a recent proposal.

Purpose of the Study:

• To implement the driven-dissipative two-site optical Bose-Hubbard model using exciton polaritons.
• To explore the interplay of interference and nonlinearity in coupled semiconductor microcavities.
• To demonstrate control over polariton phase and interactions for quantum simulation.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing coupled semiconductor microcavities with exciton polaritons.
• Engineering hopping, interaction, and decay of polaritons.
• Applying site-selective coherent driving.
• Investigating density profiles under identical driving conditions.

Main Results:

• Observed three distinct density profiles in the driven-dissipative two-site optical BHM.
• Demonstrated control of polariton hopping phase via polariton-polariton interactions.
• Showcased the influence of nonlinearity and interference on system behavior.

Conclusions:

• The engineered system provides a platform for studying the driven-dissipative Bose-Hubbard model with photons.
• Polariton-polariton interactions enable control over phase acquisition during hopping.
• This work paves the way for synthesizing density-dependent gauge fields in multicavity systems.