Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

Heliyon

Steady-state properties of artificial molecules in optical cavities: A theoretical study of the impact of external magnetic fields

M.S. Linares, Herbert Vinck-Posada, Edgar A. Gómez

Published Aug 26, 2026• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We theoretically explore the impact of an external magnetic field on the steady-state characteristics of an artificial molecule situated in a bimodal optical cavity. Our comprehensive analysis delves into the dressed states of the system, examining occupation and dispersion relations as they vary with the applied magnetic field. Notably, we identify anti-crossings in the dispersion relations, indicating the formation of excitonic molecular states and their tunability via the magnetic field. Furthermore, we demonstrate that photons with distinct right (left) polarization can be altered due to their interaction with excitonic molecules. We also show that the steady-state occupation of the system can be manipulated by adjusting the tilt angle and intensity of the magnetic field, thereby enabling magnetic control within an artificial molecule.

DOI
10.1016/j.heliyon.2026.e45358

Related papers

Modifying optical properties of three-level V-type atomic medium by varying external magnetic field

Nguyen Huy Bang, Le Van Doai

Abstract Optical properties including absorption, dispersion, group index, Kerr nonlinearity, and optical bistability of a three-level V-type atomic medium have modified by varying an external magnetic field. By changing the magnitude or the sign of the external magnetic field, the transparency window with normal dispersion transfers to the enhanced absorption with anomalous dispersion at the line center, and hence the light propagation switches between subluminal and superluminal modes. The magnitude and the sign of the Kerr nonlinearity are controlled with the strength and the sign of the magnetic field. As a consequence, the behaviors of optical bistability are also made to appear or disappear when switching on/off the magnetic field. Moreover, the threshold intensity and width of optical bistability are also changed by the magnetic field and the coupling field. The results can be used to control the working characteristics of applied devices and study the related effects.

Physica Scripta•Aug 25, 2020•8 citations

Magnetooptical absorption of a molecular crystal in the exciton frequency range

Oleksandr V. Derevyanchuk, K. Yu. Zenkova, Valeriy M. Kramar +1 more

Nonlinear absorption of a molecular crystal in an external magnetic field is considered. The exciton absorption shape functions under polarized laser radiation and a weak magnetic field, as well as the mechanisms responsible for the formation of a hysteresis loop in the dependence of the output light intensity on the applied magnetic field, were studied for the particular case of benzene. It was established that, for the magnetooptical response of the molecular crystal under study, the formation of bistable loops is inverse in character, which makes it possible to monitor and control the behavior of bistable elements in optical logics systems with an external magnetic field at a fixed illumination frequency.

Physics of the Solid State•Jun 1, 2005•2 citations

Optical nonlinearity in a quantum dot–microcavity system under an external magnetic field

Wen Zhang, Zhongyuan Yu, Yumin Liu +1 more

We theoretically study the dynamics of a strongly coupled quantum dot–bimodal microcavity system under an external magnetic field, where the nondegenerate excitonic spin states caused by the Zeeman effect are coupled to both orthogonal cavity modes. We develop an effective cavity quantum electrodynamics model, demonstrate the polarization-related nonlinear response under a linearly polarized pulse excitation by calculating the time-resolved intracavity photon number, and investigate the dependence of system parameters on the nonlinearity. In addition, we show that, when driven by two pulses with perpendicular polarization and a relative time delay, the coupled system suppresses the delayed one, which can be applied to polarized optical switching at a single-photon level.

Journal of the Optical Society of America B•Jan 21, 2014•5 citations

Synthetic spin-orbit interactions and magnetic fields in ring-cavity QED

Farokh Mivehvar, David L. Feder

The interactions between light and matter are strongly enhanced when atoms are placed in high-finesse quantum cavities, offering tantalizing opportunities for generating exotic new quantum phases. In this work we show that both spin-orbit interactions and strong synthetic magnetic fields result when a neutral atom is confined within a ring cavity, whenever the internal atomic states are coupled to two off-resonant counter-propagating modes. We diagonalize the resulting cavity polariton Hamiltonian and find characteristic spin-orbit dispersion relations for a wide range of parameters. An adjustable uniform gauge potential is also generated, which can be converted into a synthetic magnetic field for neutral atoms by applying an external magnetic field gradient. Very large synthetic magnetic fields are possible, as the strength is proportional to the (average) number of photons in each of the cavity modes. The results suggest that strong-coupling cavity quantum electrodynamics can be a useful environment for the formation of topological states in atomic systems.

arXiv:1310.0884•Physical Review A•Jan 6, 2014•33 citations

Molecular Electron Transfer in Optical Cavities: From Excitonic to Vibronic Polaritons

Takumi Hidaka, Tomohiro Fukushima, Nguyen Thanh Phuc

Strong coupling between molecular excitations and quantized electromagnetic fields in optical cavities provides a powerful means to control the physical and chemical properties of molecular systems. Here, we study electron transfer (ET) dynamics in cavity-coupled molecules using the numerically exact hierarchical equations of motion (HEOM) method, which captures nonperturbative and non-Markovian effects beyond standard perturbative theories. We identify distinct resonance and collective effects associated with polariton formation and show that the ET rate saturates in the strong-coupling regime, a feature not captured by perturbative approaches. We further extend the cavity-modified ET model by incorporating the nuclear-coordinate dependence of molecular electric dipole moments, which gives rise to a three-body interaction involving molecular electronic and vibrational degrees of freedom and cavity photons. This vibronic polariton formation leads to non-monotonic, oscillatory dependencies of the ET rate on the light-matter coupling strength and cavity frequency, which we attribute to quantum interference among multiple transfer pathways. These findings establish cavity-modified electron transfer as a multichannel quantum process governed by the interplay of electronic, vibrational, and photonic degrees of freedom.

physics.chem-phCross-listedarXiv:2602.23748•Mar 2, 2026

Manipulating molecules with quantum light

Markus Kowalewski, Shaul Mukamel

It was first realized by Purcell (1) that the spontaneous emission rate of a quantum system can be enhanced or suppressed by placing it in a resonant radiofrequency cavity. Spontaneous emission as it was first theoretically described by Einstein (2) is not a pure property of matter. It is described by matter coupled to quantized radiation field modes, which can be manipulated in an artificial structure such as a cavity. Cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED) is used to describe such effects that intimately depend on the fact that light is made of photons. Cavity QED has been extensively studied in atoms and the experimental proof was awarded with the Nobel Prize in 2012 (3). It has been applied to cooling of single atoms and for the detection of single atoms and creating and studying states with few photons and few atoms (4). In more recent developments these ideas have been extended to manipulate electronic states (5) and vibrations in molecules (6, 7). In PNAS, Flick et al. (8) introduce recent theoretical developments for the application of cavity QED to molecules and suggest possible novel applications to photochemistry. These include nonadiabatic dynamics of molecules in cavities, the modification of molecular properties, and the integration of QED with density functional theory. A quantized electromagnetic field mode can be described as a harmonic oscillator whose coordinate is the electric field displacement (Fig. 1 A ). The zero point energy translates into a nonvanishing field intensity ⟨ e 2 ⟩ in the ground state | 0 ⟩ (vacuum fluctuations). The electric vacuum field increases for a small cavity volume e c = ℏ ω c V ϵ 0 , [1] Fig. 1. ( A ) Illustration of the standing wave cavity mode and the resulting field quantization (Fock states). ( B ) Combined matter-field states (dressed states, | ± , n ⟩ … [↵][1]1To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: smukamel{at}uci.edu. [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences•Mar 16, 2017•63 citations
We theoretically explore the impact of an external magnetic field on the steady-state characteristics of an artificial molecule situated in a bimodal optical cavity. Our comprehensive analysis delves into the dressed states of the system, examining occupation and dispersion relations as they vary with the applied magnetic field. Notably, we identify anti-crossings in the dispersion relations, indicating the formation of excitonic molecular states and their tunability via the magnetic field. Furthermore, we demonstrate that photons with distinct right (left) polarization can be altered due to their interaction with excitonic molecules. We also show that the steady-state occupation of the system can be manipulated by adjusting the tilt angle and intensity of the magnetic field, thereby enabling magnetic control within an artificial molecule.
Abstract Optical properties including absorption, dispersion, group index, Kerr nonlinearity, and optical bistability of a three-level V-type atomic medium have modified by varying an external magnetic field. By changing the magnitude or the sign of the external magnetic field, the transparency window with normal dispersion transfers to the enhanced absorption with anomalous dispersion at the line center, and hence the light propagation switches between subluminal and superluminal modes. The magnitude and the sign of the Kerr nonlinearity are controlled with the strength and the sign of the magnetic field. As a consequence, the behaviors of optical bistability are also made to appear or disappear when switching on/off the magnetic field. Moreover, the threshold intensity and width of optical bistability are also changed by the magnetic field and the coupling field. The results can be used to control the working characteristics of applied devices and study the related effects.
Nonlinear absorption of a molecular crystal in an external magnetic field is considered. The exciton absorption shape functions under polarized laser radiation and a weak magnetic field, as well as the mechanisms responsible for the formation of a hysteresis loop in the dependence of the output light intensity on the applied magnetic field, were studied for the particular case of benzene. It was established that, for the magnetooptical response of the molecular crystal under study, the formation of bistable loops is inverse in character, which makes it possible to monitor and control the behavior of bistable elements in optical logics systems with an external magnetic field at a fixed illumination frequency.
We theoretically study the dynamics of a strongly coupled quantum dot–bimodal microcavity system under an external magnetic field, where the nondegenerate excitonic spin states caused by the Zeeman effect are coupled to both orthogonal cavity modes. We develop an effective cavity quantum electrodynamics model, demonstrate the polarization-related nonlinear response under a linearly polarized pulse excitation by calculating the time-resolved intracavity photon number, and investigate the dependence of system parameters on the nonlinearity. In addition, we show that, when driven by two pulses with perpendicular polarization and a relative time delay, the coupled system suppresses the delayed one, which can be applied to polarized optical switching at a single-photon level.
The interactions between light and matter are strongly enhanced when atoms are placed in high-finesse quantum cavities, offering tantalizing opportunities for generating exotic new quantum phases. In this work we show that both spin-orbit interactions and strong synthetic magnetic fields result when a neutral atom is confined within a ring cavity, whenever the internal atomic states are coupled to two off-resonant counter-propagating modes. We diagonalize the resulting cavity polariton Hamiltonian and find characteristic spin-orbit dispersion relations for a wide range of parameters. An adjustable uniform gauge potential is also generated, which can be converted into a synthetic magnetic field for neutral atoms by applying an external magnetic field gradient. Very large synthetic magnetic fields are possible, as the strength is proportional to the (average) number of photons in each of the cavity modes. The results suggest that strong-coupling cavity quantum electrodynamics can be a useful environment for the formation of topological states in atomic systems.
Strong coupling between molecular excitations and quantized electromagnetic fields in optical cavities provides a powerful means to control the physical and chemical properties of molecular systems. Here, we study electron transfer (ET) dynamics in cavity-coupled molecules using the numerically exact hierarchical equations of motion (HEOM) method, which captures nonperturbative and non-Markovian effects beyond standard perturbative theories. We identify distinct resonance and collective effects associated with polariton formation and show that the ET rate saturates in the strong-coupling regime, a feature not captured by perturbative approaches. We further extend the cavity-modified ET model by incorporating the nuclear-coordinate dependence of molecular electric dipole moments, which gives rise to a three-body interaction involving molecular electronic and vibrational degrees of freedom and cavity photons. This vibronic polariton formation leads to non-monotonic, oscillatory dependencies of the ET rate on the light-matter coupling strength and cavity frequency, which we attribute to quantum interference among multiple transfer pathways. These findings establish cavity-modified electron transfer as a multichannel quantum process governed by the interplay of electronic, vibrational, and photonic degrees of freedom.
It was first realized by Purcell (1) that the spontaneous emission rate of a quantum system can be enhanced or suppressed by placing it in a resonant radiofrequency cavity. Spontaneous emission as it was first theoretically described by Einstein (2) is not a pure property of matter. It is described by matter coupled to quantized radiation field modes, which can be manipulated in an artificial structure such as a cavity. Cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED) is used to describe such effects that intimately depend on the fact that light is made of photons. Cavity QED has been extensively studied in atoms and the experimental proof was awarded with the Nobel Prize in 2012 (3). It has been applied to cooling of single atoms and for the detection of single atoms and creating and studying states with few photons and few atoms (4). In more recent developments these ideas have been extended to manipulate electronic states (5) and vibrations in molecules (6, 7). In PNAS, Flick et al. (8) introduce recent theoretical developments for the application of cavity QED to molecules and suggest possible novel applications to photochemistry. These include nonadiabatic dynamics of molecules in cavities, the modification of molecular properties, and the integration of QED with density functional theory. A quantized electromagnetic field mode can be described as a harmonic oscillator whose coordinate is the electric field displacement (Fig. 1 A ). The zero point energy translates into a nonvanishing field intensity ⟨ e 2 ⟩ in the ground state | 0 ⟩ (vacuum fluctuations). The electric vacuum field increases for a small cavity volume e c = ℏ ω c V ϵ 0 , [1] Fig. 1. ( A ) Illustration of the standing wave cavity mode and the resulting field quantization (Fock states). ( B ) Combined matter-field states (dressed states, | ± , n ⟩ … [↵][1]1To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: smukamel{at}uci.edu. [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1