Photon solid phases in driven arrays of nonlinearly coupled cavities

TL;DR

This paper explores how arrays of driven, nonlinear coupled cavities can exhibit photon solid phases, including crystalline order and phase synchronization, with potential implementation in superconducting circuits.

Contribution

It introduces a model of nonlinear cavity arrays showing photon solid phases and analyzes their properties, including coexistence of order and synchronization.

Findings

Photon crystal phases can form in driven nonlinear cavity arrays.

Crystalline order can coexist with phase synchronization.

The proposed system is feasible with current superconducting circuit technology.

Abstract

We introduce and study the properties of an array of QED cavities coupled by nonlinear elements, in the presence of photon leakage and driven by a coherent source. The nonlinear couplings lead to photon hopping and to nearest-neighbor Kerr terms. By tuning the system parameters, the steady state of the array can exhibit a photon crystal associated with a periodic modulation of the photon blockade. In some cases, the crystalline ordering may coexist with phase synchronization. The class of cavity arrays we consider can be built with superconducting circuits of existing technology.