Reconfigurable quantum metamaterials

TL;DR

This paper introduces reconfigurable quantum metamaterials based on coupled atom-cavity arrays, enabling lossless, dynamic control at the quantum level with potential applications like quantum superlenses for single-photon imaging.

Contribution

It presents a novel class of quantum metamaterials that are reconfigurable, lossless, and operate at the quantum level, expanding the scope of optical design into quantum regimes.

Findings

Quantum metamaterials can be dynamically reconfigured.

Potential to create quantum superlenses with negative index gradients.

Operates intrinsically at the quantum level with entanglement and superposition.

Abstract

By coupling controllable quantum systems into larger structures we introduce the concept of a quantum metamaterial. Conventional meta-materials represent one of the most important frontiers in optical design, with applications in diverse fields ranging from medicine to aerospace. Up until now however, metamaterials have themselves been classical structures and interact only with the classical properties of light. Here we describe a class of dynamic metamaterials, based on the quantum properties of coupled atom-cavity arrays, which are intrinsically lossless, reconfigurable, and operate fundamentally at the quantum level. We show how this new class of metamaterial could be used to create a reconfigurable quantum superlens possessing a negative index gradient for single photon imaging. With the inherent features of quantum superposition and entanglement of metamaterial properties, this new class of dynamic quantum metamaterial, opens a new vista for quantum science and technology.