Controllable vortex lasing arrays in a geometrically frustrated exciton-polariton lattice at room temperature

Room-temperature Bose-Einstein condensation and quantized-vortex arrays are realized and manipulated in a polaritonic kagome lattice, which provides a promising optical analogue for emulating the formation of flat bands and arrangements of vortical spin. Quantized vortices appearing in topological excitations of quantum phase transition play a pivotal role in strongly correlated physics involving the underlying confluence of superfluids, Bose-Einstein condensates and superconductors. Exciton polaritons as bosonic quasiparticles have enabled studies of non-equilibrium quantum gases and superfluidity. Exciton-polariton condensates in artificial lattices intuitively emulate energy-band structures and quantum many-body effects of condensed matter, underpinning constructing vortex lattices and controlling quantum fluidic circuits. Here, we harness exciton-polariton quantum fluids of light in a frustrated kagome lattice based on robust metal-halide perovskite microcavities, to demonstrate vortex lasing arrays and modulate their configurations at room temperature. Tomographic energy-momentum spectra unambiguously reveal massless Dirac bands and quenched kinetic-energy flat bands coexisting in kagome lattices, where polariton condensates exhibit prototypical honeycomb and kagome spatial patterns. Spatial coherence investigations illustrate two types of phase textures of polariton condensates carrying ordered quantized-vortex arrays and pi-phase shifts, which could be selected when needed using lasing emission energy. Our findings offer a promising platform on which it is possible to study quantum-fluid correlations in complex polaritonic lattices and highlight feasible applications of structured light.

Automated summary

Room-temperature Bose-Einstein condensation and quantized-vortex arrays are achieved and manipulated in a polaritonic kagome lattice, which serves as a promising optical analogue for simulating the formation of flat bands and vortical spin arrangements. By utilizing exciton-polariton quantum fluids of light in a frustrated kagome lattice, vortex lasing arrays are demonstrated and their configurations are modulated at room temperature. The findings provide a promising platform for studying quantum-fluid correlations in complex polaritonic lattices and highlight the feasible applications of structured light.