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arXiv:2501.10997 · Physical Review A

Dissipative quantum phase transitions in electrically driven lasers

Lei-Lei Nian, Yi-Cheng Wang, Jin-Yi Wang, Long Xiong, Bo Zheng, Jing-Tao Lü

Published Dec 19, 2025• 3 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Embedding quantum dot circuits into microwave cavities has emerged as a novel platform for controlling photon emission statistics by electrical means. With such a circuit version of the Rabi model, we reveal previously undefined quantum phase transitions in electrically driven lasing regimes, which do not require deep strong light-matter couplings. For one-photon interaction, the scaling analysis indicates that the system undergoes a continuous phase transition from thermal to coherent photon emissions. Going beyond this, a discontinuous quantum phase transition from superbunched to coherent states in two-photon processes, accompanied by the bistability within a mean-field theory, is predicted. Both the order of phase transitions and the critical electron-photon coupling can be easily controlled by an electric field, while the tunneling current can be used as a fingerprint of such transitions. Our prediction, along with its extension to multiphoton processes, represents a key step towards accessing lasing phase transitions.

DOI
10.1103/tz9p-wfj7

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Embedding quantum dot circuits into microwave cavities has emerged as a novel platform for controlling photon emission statistics by electrical means. With such a circuit version of the Rabi model, we reveal previously undefined quantum phase transitions in electrically driven lasing regimes, which do not require deep strong light-matter couplings. For one-photon interaction, the scaling analysis indicates that the system undergoes a continuous phase transition from thermal to coherent photon emissions. Going beyond this, a discontinuous quantum phase transition from superbunched to coherent states in two-photon processes, accompanied by the bistability within a mean-field theory, is predicted. Both the order of phase transitions and the critical electron-photon coupling can be easily controlled by an electric field, while the tunneling current can be used as a fingerprint of such transitions. Our prediction, along with its extension to multiphoton processes, represents a key step towards accessing lasing phase transitions.
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We demonstrate a novel mechanism driving complex critical phenomena in open light-atom interacting systems by investigating a parametrically amplified quantum Rabi model (QRM) subject to both single- and two-photon decay. In the classical oscillator limit, four composite phases emerge, arising from the possible normal or superradiant regimes across the upper and lower spin branches. A mean-field analysis reveals that the two-photon decay activates the intrinsic nonlinearity of the QRM. The synergy of the coherent and dissipative two-photon processes, together with the spin-boson coupling, constitutes an ``inverted" regime where superradiance emerges exclusively at weak coupling. This regime features first- and second-order superradiant DPTs separated by a tricritical point. Utilizing an adiabatic approach and the semi-classical Langevin formalism, we further study the steady-state structure beyond the mean-field level. The universality classes of the DPTs are identified, with the corresponding critical and finite-size scaling exponents derived and a scaling ansatz proposed to describe the critical behavior.
Motivated by recent ``circuit QED'' experiments we study the lasing transition and spectral properties of single-qubit lasers. In the strong coupling, low-temperature regime, quantum fluctuations dominate over thermal noise and strongly influence the linewidth of the laser. When the qubit and the resonator are detuned, amplitude and phase fluctuations of the radiation field are coupled and the phase diffusion model, commonly used to describe conventional lasers, fails. We predict pronounced effects near the lasing transition, with an enhanced linewidth and nonexponential decay of the correlation functions. We cover a wide range of parameters by using two complementary approaches, one based on the Liouville equation in a Fock-state basis, covering arbitrarily strong coupling but limited to low photon numbers, the other based on the coherent-state representation, covering large photon numbers but restricted to weak or intermediate coupling.
We investigate the dynamics of a lasing system driven by a current of bosonic (quasi-)particles via a dissipative three-mode mixing process. A semiclassical analysis of this system predicts distinct dynamical regimes, where both the cavity mode and the gain medium can undergo lasing transitions. Of particular interest is an intermediate self-pulsing phase that exhibits the characteristics of an excitable system and converts random input signals into separated, quasi-periodic pulses at the output. By performing exact Monte Carlo simulations, we extend this analysis into the quantum regime and show that despite being dominated by huge bosonic particle number fluctuations, this effect survives even for rather low average photon numbers. Our system thus represents an intriguing model of an excitable quantum many-body system, with practical relevance for quantum detectors or autonomous quantum machines. As an illustration, we discuss the realization of this system with superconducting quantum circuits and its application as a number-resolved avalanche detector for microwave photons.
The regime of strong light-matter coupling is typically associated with weak excitation. With current realizations of cavity-QED systems, strong coupling may persevere even at elevated excitation levels sufficient to cross the threshold to lasing. In the presence of stimulated emission, the vacuum-Rabi doublet in the emission spectrum is modified and the established criterion for strong coupling no longer applies. We provide a generalized criterion for strong coupling and the corresponding emission spectrum, which includes the influence of higher Jaynes-Cummings states. The applicability is demonstrated in a theory-experiment comparison of a few-emitter quantum-dot--micropillar laser as a particular realization of the driven dissipative Jaynes-Cummings model. Furthermore, we address the question if and for which parameters true single-emitter lasing can be achieved and provide evidence for the coexistence of strong coupling and lasing in our system in the presence of background emitter contributions.