INPHYNI seminar: Jacqueline Bloch (Paris-Saclay)

The extraordinary properties of crystalline materials, their ability to conduct electricity, become superconductive, or exhibit certain magnetic effects, are due to the physics of quantum particles (electrons) moving in a periodic potential created by the atoms of the crystal and interacting with each other and with the vibrations of the crystal. Can we draw inspiration from this condensed matter physics to modify the properties of light? Can we go beyond what exists in natural materials by using light?
In this presentation, I will describe how our team at C2N is answering these questions by trapping light in optical cavities (“photonic atoms”), assembled in periodic lattices that form “photonic crystals.” In these lattices, photons “jump” from one cavity to another, just as electrons do from one atom to another in solids. All the physics can be revealed by analyzing the light that emerges from these lattices. We will take the example of a cavity ring that simulates a benzene molecule or a honeycomb array that simulates graphene. Finally, we will describe how light can even become superfluid and propagate as in a superconducting material.
This research is of great fundamental interest, but also leads to innovative photonic devices with very promising applications.