Supersolid light in a semiconductor microcavity
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arXiv
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2025
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| author | Figueiredo, J. L. Mendonça, J. T. Terças, H. |
| author_facet | Figueiredo, J. L. Mendonça, J. T. Terças, H. |
| contents | Supersolidity - simultaneous superfluid flow and crystalline order - has been realized in quantum atomic systems but remains unexplored in purely photonic platforms operating at weak light-matter coupling. We predict a supersolid phase of light in a plasma-filled optical microcavity, where photons acquire effective mass and interact via nonlocal, plasma-mediated nonlinearities. By deriving a Gross-Pitaevskii equation with a tunable photon-photon interaction kernel, we show that under coherent driving the cavity light field can spontaneously crystallize into a supersolid lattice via modulational instability. Crucially, this supersolid arises from a weak photon-electron coupling enabled by virtual electronic transitions, and it does not require hybrid polariton formation. Using doped semiconductor microcavities, we identify feasible conditions (electron densities $\sim 10^{10}- 10^{11}~\mathrm{cm}^{-2}$ and optical intensities $\sim 10^{2}-10^{4}~\mathrm{W/cm}^{2}$) for experimental realization. This work establishes plasmonic cavities as a platform for correlated photonic matter with emergent quantum order. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2509_09007 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Supersolid light in a semiconductor microcavity Figueiredo, J. L. Mendonça, J. T. Terças, H. Optics Quantum Gases Supersolidity - simultaneous superfluid flow and crystalline order - has been realized in quantum atomic systems but remains unexplored in purely photonic platforms operating at weak light-matter coupling. We predict a supersolid phase of light in a plasma-filled optical microcavity, where photons acquire effective mass and interact via nonlocal, plasma-mediated nonlinearities. By deriving a Gross-Pitaevskii equation with a tunable photon-photon interaction kernel, we show that under coherent driving the cavity light field can spontaneously crystallize into a supersolid lattice via modulational instability. Crucially, this supersolid arises from a weak photon-electron coupling enabled by virtual electronic transitions, and it does not require hybrid polariton formation. Using doped semiconductor microcavities, we identify feasible conditions (electron densities $\sim 10^{10}- 10^{11}~\mathrm{cm}^{-2}$ and optical intensities $\sim 10^{2}-10^{4}~\mathrm{W/cm}^{2}$) for experimental realization. This work establishes plasmonic cavities as a platform for correlated photonic matter with emergent quantum order. |
| title | Supersolid light in a semiconductor microcavity |
| topic | Optics Quantum Gases |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.09007 |