Exciton Interferometry

TL;DR

This paper proposes and computationally demonstrates an excitonic interferometer using beam splitters that can coherently split signals among multiple channels, expanding the potential for excitonic optical analogs.

Contribution

It introduces a design for an exciton beam splitter and an excitonic Mach-Zehnder interferometer, expanding excitonic device capabilities beyond optical analogs.

Findings

Computational demonstration of excitonic beam splitter and interferometer.

Ability to coherently split excitonic signals among multiple channels.

Potential physical implementations in molecular and cavity systems.

Abstract

An exciton beam splitter is designed and computationally implemented, offering the prospect of excitonic interferometry. Exciton interaction between propagation conduits is modeled using a coupling parameter that varies with position. In practice, this variation can be realized by a change in the distance separating conduits as would occur if they crossed at oblique angles. Two such excitonic beam splitters can be combined to comprise an excitonic analog to a Mach-Zehnder interferometer, allowing the relative phase shift between two signals to be used to tailor the output populations on each channel. In contrast to optical splitters, an excitonic signal can be coherently split among more than two channels. These ideas are computationally demonstrated within an idealized setting in which each site is idealized as a two-level system. Physical implementations include molecular and coupled cavity settings as well as combinations of these. This adds to the developing inventory of excitonic analogs to optical elements.