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Optics Letters

Direct and mediated dipole–dipole interactions in a reconfigurable array of optical traps

Mian Wu, Nan Li, He Cai, Cheng Liu, Huizhu Hu

Published Feb 9, 2026• 1 citation
Publisher

Abstract

Optically levitated nanoparticles in vacuum experience both electrostatic and light-induced dipole–dipole interactions, offering a versatile platform to explore mesoscopic entanglement and many-body dynamics. A significant challenge in optical trap arrays is to achieve site-resolved, point-to-point tunability: adjusting the laser parameters of a single trap typically induces global cross-talk to neighboring sites, hindering independent control. Inspired by tunable couplers in superconducting circuits, we implement an ancillary nanoparticle that functions as a coupler between two target nanoparticles. Within a reconfigurable three-particle array, we demonstrate broad tunability of the direct dipole–dipole interaction by controlling the phase and position of the traps. In addition, we observe spectral signatures consistent with mediated interactions between the target particles via the ancillary one, manifested as mode participation beyond the uncoupled response. Our results establish a practical route to tailored, site-resolved control in multi-particle optical trap arrays, expanding the optical-binding toolbox and opening opportunities for programmable oscillator networks relevant to macroscopic quantum mechanics and precision sensing.

DOI
10.1364/ol.579940

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Optically levitated nanoparticles in vacuum experience both electrostatic and light-induced dipole–dipole interactions, offering a versatile platform to explore mesoscopic entanglement and many-body dynamics. A significant challenge in optical trap arrays is to achieve site-resolved, point-to-point tunability: adjusting the laser parameters of a single trap typically induces global cross-talk to neighboring sites, hindering independent control. Inspired by tunable couplers in superconducting circuits, we implement an ancillary nanoparticle that functions as a coupler between two target nanoparticles. Within a reconfigurable three-particle array, we demonstrate broad tunability of the direct dipole–dipole interaction by controlling the phase and position of the traps. In addition, we observe spectral signatures consistent with mediated interactions between the target particles via the ancillary one, manifested as mode participation beyond the uncoupled response. Our results establish a practical route to tailored, site-resolved control in multi-particle optical trap arrays, expanding the optical-binding toolbox and opening opportunities for programmable oscillator networks relevant to macroscopic quantum mechanics and precision sensing.
Optically levitated nanoparticles in vacuum experience both electrostatic and light-induced dipole-dipole interactions, offering a versatile platform to explore mesoscopic entanglement and many-body dynamics. A significant challenge in optical trap arrays is to achieve site-resolved, point-to-point tunability: adjusting the laser parameters of a single trap typically induces global cross-talk to neighboring sites, hindering independent control. Inspired by tunable couplers in superconducting circuits, we implement an ancillary nanoparticle that functions as a coupler between two target nanoparticles. Within a reconfigurable three-particle array, we demonstrate broad tunability of the direct dipole-dipole interaction by controlling the phase and position of the traps. In addition, we observe spectral signatures consistent with mediated interactions between the target particles via the ancillary one, manifested as mode participation beyond the uncoupled response. Our results establish a practical route to tailored, site-resolved control in multi-particle optical trap arrays, expanding the optical-binding toolbox and opening opportunities for programmable oscillator networks relevant to macroscopic quantum mechanics and precision sensing.
Arrays of optically trapped nanoparticles have emerged as a platform for the study of complex nonequilibrium phenomena. Analogous to atomic many-body systems, one of the crucial ingredients is the ability to precisely control the interactions between particles. However, the optical interactions studied thus far only provide conservative optical binding forces of limited tunability. In this work, we exploit the phase coherence between the optical fields that drive the light-induced dipole-dipole interaction to couple two nanoparticles. In addition, we effectively switch off the optical interaction and observe electrostatic coupling between charged particles. Our results provide a route to developing fully programmable many-body systems of interacting nanoparticles with tunable nonreciprocal interactions, which are instrumental for exploring entanglement and topological phases in arrays of levitated nanoparticles.
Arrays of optically levitated nanoparticles with fully tunable light-induced dipole–dipole interactions have emerged as a platform for fundamental research and sensing applications. However, previous experiments utilized two optical traps with identical polarization, leading to an interference effect. Here, we demonstrate light-induced dipole–dipole interactions using two orthogonally polarized optical traps. Furthermore, we achieve control over the strength and polarity of the optical coupling by adjusting the polarization and propose a method to simultaneously and stably measure conservative and non-conservative coupling rates. Our results provide a new scheme for exploring entanglement and topological phases in arrays of levitated nanoparticles.
Realizing a large-scale fully controllable quantum system is a challenging task in current physical research and has broad applications. Ultracold atom and molecule arrays in optical tweezers in vacuum have been used for quantum simulation, quantum metrology and quantum computing. Recently, quantum ground state cooling of the center-of-mass motion of a single optically levitated nanoparticle in vacuum was demonstrated, providing unprecedented opportunities for studying macroscopic quantum mechanics and precision measurements. In this work, we create a reconfigurable optically-levitated nanoparticle array in vacuum. Our optically-levitated nanoparticle array allows full control of individual nanoparticles to form an arbitrary pattern and detect their motion. As a concrete example, we choose two nanoparticles without rotation signals from an array to synthesize a nanodumbbell in-situ by merging them into one trap. The nanodumbbell synthesized in-situ can rotate beyond 1 GHz. Our work provides a new platform for studying macroscopic many-body physics.
Realizing a large-scale fully controllable quantum system is a challenging task in current physical research and has broad applications. In this work, we create a reconfigurable optically levitated nanoparticle array in vacuum. Our optically levitated nanoparticle array allows full control of individual nanoparticles to form an arbitrary pattern and detect their motion. As a concrete example, we choose two nanoparticles without rotation signals from an array to synthesize a nanodumbbell in situ by merging them into one trap. The nanodumbbell synthesized in situ can rotate beyond 1 GHz. Our work provides a platform for studying macroscopic many-body physics and quantum sensing.
The ability to control levitated nanoparticles allows one to explore various fields of physics, including quantum optics, quantum metrology, and nonequilibrium physics. It has been recently demonstrated that the arrangement of two levitated nanoparticles naturally realizes the tunable nonreciprocal dipole-dipole interaction. Motivated by this development, we here propose and analyze an array of levitated nanoparticles as an ideal platform to study non-Hermitian physics in a highly controlled manner. We employ the non-Bloch band theory to determine the continuum bands of the proposed setup and investigate the non-Hermitian skin effect therein. In particular, we point out that the levitated nanoparticle array exhibits rich dynamical phases, including the dynamically unstable phase and the unconventional critical phase where the spectral singularity persists over a broad region of the controllable parameters. We also show that the long-range nature of the dipole-dipole interaction gives rise to the unique self-crossing point of the continuum band.