Mode-multiplexing deep-strong light-matter coupling

Abstract Dressing electronic quantum states with virtual photons creates exotic effects ranging from vacuum-field modified transport to polaritonic chemistry, and squeezing or entanglement of modes. The established paradigm of cavity quantum electrodynamics maximizes the light-matter coupling streng...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Joshua Mornhinweg, Laura Katharina Diebel, Maike Halbhuber, Michael Prager, Josef Riepl, Tobias Inzenhofer, Dominique Bougeard, Rupert Huber, Christoph Lange
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2024-02-01
Series:Nature Communications
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-46038-9
Description
Summary:Abstract Dressing electronic quantum states with virtual photons creates exotic effects ranging from vacuum-field modified transport to polaritonic chemistry, and squeezing or entanglement of modes. The established paradigm of cavity quantum electrodynamics maximizes the light-matter coupling strength $${\varOmega }_{{{{{{\rm{R}}}}}}}/{\omega }_{{{{{{\rm{c}}}}}}}$$ Ω R / ω c , defined as the ratio of the vacuum Rabi frequency and the frequency of light, by resonant interactions. Yet, the finite oscillator strength of a single electronic excitation sets a natural limit to $${\varOmega }_{{{{{{\rm{R}}}}}}}/{\omega }_{{{{{{\rm{c}}}}}}}$$ Ω R / ω c . Here, we enter a regime of record-strong light-matter interaction which exploits the cooperative dipole moments of multiple, highly non-resonant magnetoplasmon modes tailored by our metasurface. This creates an ultrabroadband spectrum of 20 polaritons spanning 6 optical octaves, calculated vacuum ground state populations exceeding 1 virtual excitation quantum, and coupling strengths equivalent to $${\varOmega }_{{{{{{\rm{R}}}}}}}/{\omega }_{{{{{{\rm{c}}}}}}}=3.19$$ Ω R / ω c = 3.19 . The extreme interaction drives strongly subcycle energy exchange between multiple bosonic vacuum modes akin to high-order nonlinearities, and entangles previously orthogonal electronic excitations solely via vacuum fluctuations.
ISSN:2041-1723