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arXiv:2602.23237

Polarization-selective quantum cooperative response in dual-species atom arrays

Huan Wang, Shangguo Zhu, Yun Long, Fei Zhang, Yinghui Guo, Mingbo Pu, Xiangang Luo

quant-phcond-mat.quant-gasphysics.atom-phphysics.opticsSubmitted Feb 26, 2026• Announced Feb 27, 2026• 0 citations• Revised Mar 12, 2026 (v2)
v1 · Feb 26, 2026v2 · Mar 12, 2026
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Abstract

Atom arrays have emerged as a powerful platform for quantum light-matter interfaces, yet single-species arrays are constrained by in-plane symmetry, restricting polarization control. Here we investigate the cooperative optical response of dual-species subwavelength atom arrays, in which intrinsic polarizability difference breaks in-plane symmetry. By engineering the lattice constants and detunings, the arrays exhibit polarization-dependent subradiant modes, enabling complete reflection of a specific polarization component. Leveraging this mechanism, we assemble array units as functional pixels and demonstrate a scalable polarization-selective quantum light modulator. Our work establishes a dynamically reconfigurable atomic-photonic platform for versatile subwavelength quantum optical elements.

Comments
4 pages, 5 figures + Supplemental (8 pages, 5 figures)

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Atom arrays have emerged as a powerful platform for quantum light-matter interfaces, yet single-species arrays are constrained by in-plane symmetry, restricting polarization control. Here we investigate the cooperative optical response of dual-species subwavelength atom arrays, in which intrinsic polarizability difference breaks in-plane symmetry. By engineering the lattice constants and detunings, the arrays exhibit polarization-dependent subradiant modes, enabling complete reflection of a specific polarization component. Leveraging this mechanism, we assemble array units as functional pixels and demonstrate a scalable polarization-selective quantum light modulator. Our work establishes a dynamically reconfigurable atomic-photonic platform for versatile subwavelength quantum optical elements.
Atom arrays have emerged as a powerful platform for quantum light-matter interfaces, yet single-species arrays are constrained by in-plane symmetry, restricting polarization control. Here, we investigate the cooperative optical response of dual-species subwavelength atom arrays, in which the intrinsic polarizability difference breaks in-plane symmetry. By engineering the lattice constants and detunings, the arrays exhibit polarization-dependent subradiant modes, enabling complete reflection of a specific polarization component. Leveraging this mechanism, we assemble array units as functional pixels and demonstrate a scalable polarization-selective quantum light modulator. Our work establishes a dynamically reconfigurable atomic-photonic platform for versatile subwavelength quantum optical elements.
Subwavelength atomic arrays offer a powerful platform for engineering cooperative light-matter interactions and enabling quantum metasurfaces. We demonstrate that a two-dimensional array of three-level atoms operating under electromagnetically induced transparency can function as a tunable dual-band atomic mirror, where two independently controllable reflection bands emerge from the collective optical responses mediated by dipole-dipole interactions. These resonances yield dual reflection bands with asymmetric linewidths, whose spectral positions and bandwidths can be tuned through the control-field parameters, dipole orientation, incident geometry, and lattice constant. We further identify the conditions under which additional diffraction orders emerge, which delineate the operational and tunable range of the atomic mirror via its collective-mode structure. This scheme provides a fully tunable dual-band atomic mirror operating across broad frequency and angular ranges, offering a practical and experimentally accessible pathway toward reconfigurable photonic elements in atomic-array platforms at low energy levels.
Ordered atomic arrays with subwavelength spacing have emerged as an efficient and versatile light-matter interface, where collective interactions give rise to sets of super- and subradiant lattice states. Here, we demonstrate that highly subradiant states, so-called lattice dark states, can be individually addressed and manipulated by applying a spatial modulation of the atomic detuning. More specifically, we show that lattice dark states can be used to store and retrieve single photons with near-unit efficiency, as well as to control the temporal, frequency, and spatial degrees of freedom of the emitted electromagnetic field. Furthermore, we demonstrate how to engineer arbitrary coherent interactions between multiple dark states and thereby manipulate information stored in the lattice. These results pave the way towards quantum optics and information processing using atomic arrays.
When quantum emitters couple indistinguishably to light, they can synchronize into a collective light matter system with radiative properties profoundly different from those of independent particles. To date, the resulting collective effects have largely been confined to point like or homogeneous ensembles. Here, we open access to a qualitatively new collective regime by realizing geometrically ordered, spatially extended atom arrays with subwavelength spacing. This establishes a fundamentally new platform in which collective emission is no longer confined to a single Dicke mode but instead emerges from an ordered network of photon mediated interactions. We find that 2D atom arrays undergo strong super and subradiant emission. Despite subwavelength spacing, we achieve site resolved imaging and directly observe the buildup of spatial correlations, demonstrating the transformation of cooperative decay into a strongly correlated many-body process. We observe extensive scaling of superradiance, uncover superradiant revivals, and reveal the ferromagnetic nature of superradiance and the antiferromagnetic nature of subradiance. Our results realize a novel programmable platform for exploring and utilizing dissipative many-body quantum physics, opening new possibilities for photon capture, storage, and atom photon entanglement.
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Abstract Enhancing light–matter coupling at the level of single quanta is essential for numerous applications in quantum science. The cooperative optical response of subwavelength atomic arrays has been found to open new pathways for such strong light–matter couplings, while simultaneously offering access to multiple spatial modes of the light field. Efficient single-mode free-space coupling to such arrays has been reported, but spatial control over the modes of outgoing light fields has remained elusive. Here, we demonstrate such spatial control over the optical response of an atomically thin mirror formed by a subwavelength array of atoms in free space using a single controlled ancilla atom excited to a Rydberg state. The switching behaviour is controlled by the admixture of a small Rydberg fraction to the atomic mirror, and consequently strong dipolar Rydberg interactions with the ancilla. Driving Rabi oscillations on the ancilla atom, we demonstrate coherent control of the transmission and reflection of the array. These results represent a step towards the realization of quantum coherent metasurfaces, the demonstration of controlled atom–photon entanglement and deterministic engineering of quantum states of light.