Electronic superradiance mediated by nuclear dynamics

TL;DR

This paper extends the Dicke model to include nuclear motion, revealing how nuclear dynamics influence superradiant emission and introducing a new emission pathway controlled by nuclear potential tuning.

Contribution

It introduces a modified Dicke model incorporating nuclear motion, demonstrating its effect on superradiance and identifying a controllable dark state emission pathway.

Findings

Nuclear motion introduces a new time scale in superradiance.

Dark state emission can be controlled via nuclear potential energy landscape.

Nuclear dynamics affect superradiant and subradiant state populations.

Abstract

Superradiance, in which the collective behavior of emitters can generate enhanced radiative decay, was first predicted by a model, now known as the Dicke model, that contains a collection of two-level systems (the emitters) all interacting with the same photonic mode. In this article, we extend the original Dicke model to elucidate the influence of nuclear motion on superradiant emission. Our dynamical simulations of the combined electronic, nuclear, and photonic system reveal a new time scale attributed to the population leakage of the dark, subradiant states. Furthermore, this dark state emission pathway can be controlled by tuning the nuclear potential energy landscape. These findings impact how superradiant states and molecular degrees of freedom can be leveraged and utilized in quantum optical systems.