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Electromagnetically induced moiré optical lattices in a coherent atomic gas

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Abstract

Electromagnetically induced optical (or photonic) lattices via atomic coherence in atomic ensembles have recently received great theoretical and experimental interest. We here conceive a way to generate electromagnetically induced moiré optical lattices — a twisted periodic pattern when two identical periodic patterns (lattices) are overlapped in a twisted angle (θ) — in a three-level coherent atomic gas working under electromagnetically induced transparency. We show that, changing the twisted angle and relative strength between the two constitutive sublattices, the moiré Bloch bands that are extremely flattened can always appear, resembling the typical flat-band and moiré physics found in other contexts. Dynamics of light propagation in the induced periodic structures demonstrating the unique linear localization and delocalization properties are also revealed. Our scheme can be implemented in a Rubidium atomic medium, where the predicted moiré optical lattices and flattened bands are naturally observable.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11704066, 12074423, 12074063), and Jiangxi Provincial Natural Science Foundation (Grant No. 20202BABL211013).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Transient Optics and Photonics, Xi’an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi’an, 710119, China

    Zhiming Chen, Xiuye Liu & Jianhua Zeng

  2. School of Science, East China University of Technology, Nanchang, 330013, China

    Zhiming Chen

  3. Collaborative Innovation Center of Light Manipulations and Applications, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, 250358, China

    Zhiming Chen

  4. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Xiuye Liu & Jianhua Zeng

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  1. Zhiming Chen
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  2. Xiuye Liu
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  3. Jianhua Zeng
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Correspondence to Jianhua Zeng.

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arXiv: 2202.11275. This article can also be found at http://journal.hep.com.cn/fop/EN/10.1007/s11467-022-1153-6.

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Chen, Z., Liu, X. & Zeng, J. Electromagnetically induced moiré optical lattices in a coherent atomic gas. Front. Phys. 17, 42508 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11467-022-1153-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11467-022-1153-6

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