Asynchronous Locking in Metamaterials of Fluids of Light and Sound

TL;DR

This paper introduces polaromechanical metamaterials that enable synchronization of polariton and phonon fields, paving the way for coherent control of quantum light fluids using hypersound in scalable platforms.

Contribution

It presents a novel two-dimensional array platform for confining light-matter polariton fluids and GHz phonons, demonstrating phonon-mediated synchronization effects.

Findings

Polaritons respond to optical perturbation by locking energy detuning at phonon multiples.

Synchronization involves both polariton and phonon fields.

The platform enables coherent control of quantum light fluids with hypersound.

Abstract

Phonons, the quanta of vibrations, are very important for the equilibrium and dynamical properties of matter. GHz coherent phonons can also interact with and act as interconnects in a wide range of quantum systems. Harnessing and tailoring their coupling to opto-electronic excitations thus becomes highly relevant for engineered materials for quantum technologies. With this perspective we introduce polaromechanical metamaterials, two-dimensional arrays of $\mu$m-size zero-dimensional traps confining light-matter polariton fluids and GHz phonons. A strong exciton-mediated polariton-phonon interaction determines the inter-site polariton coupling with remarkable consequences for the dynamics. When locally perturbed by optical excitation, polaritons respond by locking the energy detuning between neighbor sites at integer multiples of the phonon energy, evidencing synchronization involving the polariton and phonon fields. These results open the path for the coherent control of quantum light fluids with hypersound in a scalable platform.