Experimental band structure spectroscopy along a synthetic dimension

Abstract

In recent years there has been significant interest in the concepts of synthetic dimensions, where one couples the internal degrees of freedom of a particle to form higher-dimensional lattices in lower-dimensional physical structures. For these systems the concept of band structure along the synthetic dimension plays a central role in their theoretical description. Here we provide the first direct experimental measurement of the band structure along the synthetic dimension. By dynamically modulating a ring resonator at frequencies commensurate with its mode spacing, we realize a periodically driven system with a synthetic frequency dimension lattice. The strength and range of the couplings along the lattice can be dynamically reconfigured by changing the amplitude and frequency of modulation. We show theoretically and demonstrate experimentally that time-resolved transmission measurements of this system result in a direct "read out" of its band structure. We also show how long-range coupling, photonic gauge potentials and nonreciprocal bands can be realized in the system by simply incorporating additional frequency drives, enabling great flexibility in engineering the band structure.

References in corpus (7)

• Topological Photonics
• Photonic topological pumping through the edges of a dynamical four-dimensional quantum Hall system
• Exploring 4D Quantum Hall Physics with a 2D Topological Charge Pump
• Topological quantum matter in synthetic dimensions
• Observation of Bloch oscillations in complex PT-symmetric photonic lattices
• Spectral photonic lattices with complex long-range coupling
• Dynamically manipulating topological physics and edge modes in a single degenerate optical cavity

Cited by in corpus (5)

• Mode-Locked Topological Insulator Laser Utilizing Synthetic Dimensions
• Topological phases in ring resonators: recent progress and future prospects
• Nonlinear states and dynamics in a synthetic frequency dimension
• Topological band structure via twisted photons in a degenerate cavity
• Simulating topological materials with photonic synthetic dimensions in cavities