arXiv subjects

Marcin Muszyński

Publications and source records attributed to Marcin Muszyński.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Engineering Tunable Synthetic Su-Schrieffer-Heeger Chains in Liquid Crystal Microcavities

Optical microcavities have emerged as a powerful platform for emulating topological phases challenging to realize in conventional materials, offering precise control over dispersion, light confinement, and interactions. Among them, liquid crystal microcavities (LCMCs) offer exceptional tunability at room temperature, enabling voltage-controlled polarisation splitting, photonic spin-orbit coupling, and photonic potentials generated by self-assembled textures, such as cholesteric torons and uniform lying helix (ULH). Here, we design a LCMC hosting a dimerized ULH texture and show that the corresponding photonic potential describes two coupled Su-Schrieffer-Heeger chains with orthogonal linear polarisations, acting as an effective pseudospin degree of freedom. The applied voltage tunes the interchain coupling, enabling polarisation-dependent interactions. These results establish LCMCs as a versatile platform for tunable synthetic topological Hamiltonians.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2026

Electrically reconfigurable extended lasing state in an organic liquid-crystal microcavity

Small-footprint, low-power arrays of coupled coherent emitters with the capability of near- and far-field engineering and coherence control are highly sought after to meet modern nanophotonics evolving needs. Between existing solutions based on vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers, phase masks in bulk traditional cavity-based systems, and lattices of exciton-polariton condensates, only the strongly light-matter coupled systems were shown to be capable of controlled on-chip interaction between the individual coherent states while often operating at cryogenic temperatures. Here we demonstrate electrically controlled in-plane interaction between optically reconfigurable spatially separated lasing states, operating at room temperature in the weak light-matter coupling regime. We show spatially extended coherent lasing state or "supermode" with wide-range micro-scale control of near-field, far-field and on-chip phase-locking tuning functionality. An extended lasing state appears due to near-field transverse coupling between distinct spatially pumped lasing states in the plane of an organic liquid crystal-filled microcavity. We realize electrical control over the interaction strength between lasing states and corresponding mutual coherence going beyond nearest neighbours through electrical tuning of the microcavity optical modes with external voltage, and a spin-selective directional coupling regime by using a photonic analogue of the Rashba-Dresselhaus spin-orbit interaction.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2025

Observation of a supersolid phase in a spin-orbit coupled exciton-polariton Bose-Einstein condensate at room temperature

In Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC), spin-orbit coupling (SOC) produces supersolidity. It is a peculiar state of matter, which, in addition to the superfluid behaviour shows periodic density modulation typical for crystals. Here, we report the fabrication of a new type of optical microcavity allowing to achieve room-temperature supersolidity for a quantum fluid of light. The microcavity is filled with a nematic liquid crystal (LC) and two layers of the organic polymer MeLPPP hosting exciton resonances. We demonstrate exciton-polariton condensation in the two distinct degenerate minima of the dispersion created by the LC induced Rashba-Dresselhaus (RD) SOC. The condensate real-space distribution shows density stripes located randomly from one condensate realization to another despite the presence of a random disorder potential. This demonstrates the immunity of stripes against disorder (that is, superfluidity) and the spontaneous breaking of translational invariance. We also report the random appearance of vortices via the Kibble-Zurek mechanism, another smoking gun of superfluidity.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2025

Multiplexed back focal plane imaging with on-chip integrated microlens array

On-chip optical architectures that enable angle-resolved spectroscopy are essential for advancing photonic platforms towards low-volume, scalable, and cryo-compatible devices. Here, we introduce spatially resolved momentum-space imaging using arrays of 3D-printed microlenses directly integrated onto semiconductor optical microcavities. Each microlens functions as an independent optical element with a high numerical aperture (approx. 0.95), enabling parallel back focal plane imaging across, in our implementation, 64 distinct locations. This approach eliminates the need for bulky microscope objectives while maintaining broad wavevector access, even under cryogenic conditions. We demonstrate its versatility across various cavity systems, including dielectric planar resonators, GaAs-based polariton microcavities, and CdTe platforms supporting nonequilibrium Bose-Einstein condensation of exciton-polaritons. The microlenses not only enhance collection efficiency but also enable tightly focused excitation, yielding an order of magnitude reduction in condensation thresholds compared with conventional setups. Our results establish 3D-printed microlens arrays as a compact, versatile, integrated platform for next-generation angle-resolved spectroscopy in nanophotonics and quantum materials.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2025

Electrically tunable momentum space polarization singularities in liquid crystal microcavities

Momentum space polarization singularities of light appear as vectorial twists in the scattered and radiated far field patterns of exotic photonic structures. They relate to important concepts such as bound states in the continuum, spatiotemporal light steering, polarization Möbius strips, Berry curvature and associated topological photonic phenomena. Polarization singularities, such as completely circularly polarized C-points, are readily designed in real space through interference of differently polarized beams. In momentum space, they require instead sophisticated patterning of photonic crystal slabs of reduced symmetries in order to appear in the corresponding band structure with scarce in-situ tunability. Here, we show that momentum space singularities can be generated and, importantly, electrically tuned in the band structure of a highly birefringent planar liquid crystal microcavity that retains many symmetries. Our results agree with theoretical predictions and offer exciting possibilities for integration of momentum space polarization singularities in spinoptronic technologies.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2024

In-situ tunneling control in photonic potentials by Rashba-Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling

The tunability of individual coupling amplitudes in photonic lattices is highly desirable for photonic Hamiltonian engineering and for studying topological transitions in situ. In this work, we demonstrate the tunneling control between individual lattice sites patterned inside an optical microcavity. The tuning is achieved by applying a voltage to a liquid crystal microcavity possessing photonic Rashba-Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling. This type of spin-orbit coupling emerges due to the high birefringence of the liquid crystal material and constitutes an artificial gauge field for photons. The proposed technique can be combined with strong-light matter coupling and non-Hermitian physics already established in liquid crystal microcavities.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2024

Electrically tunable spin-orbit coupled photonic lattice in a liquid crystal microcavity

We create a one-dimensional photonic crystal with strong polarization dependence and tunable by an applied electric field. We accomplish this in a planar microcavity by embedding a cholesteric liquid crystal (LC), which spontaneously forms a uniform lying helix (ULH). The applied voltage controls the orientation of the LC molecules and, consequently, the strength of a polarization-dependent periodic potential. It leads to opening or closing of photonic band gaps in the dispersion of the massive photons in the microcavity. In addition, when the ULH structure possesses a molecular tilt, it induces a spin-orbit coupling between the lattice bands of different parity. This interband spin-orbit coupling (ISOC) is analogous to optical activity and can be treated as a synthetic non-Abelian gauge potential. Finally, we show that doping the LC with dyes allows us to achieve lasing that inherits all the above-mentioned tunable properties of LC microcavity, including dual and circularly-polarized lasing.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2023

Ion-beam-milled graphite nanoribbons as mesoscopic carbon-based polarizers

We demonstrate optical reflectivity and Raman responses of graphite microstructures as a function of light polarization when the incident light is applied perpendicular to the material's stacking direction (c-axis). For this, we employed novel graphite nanoribbons with edges polished through ion-beam etching. In this unique configuration, a strong polarization dependence of the D, G, and 2D Raman modes is observed. At the same time, polarized reflectivity measurements demonstrate the potential of such a device as a carbon-based, on-chip polarizer. We discuss the advantages of the proposed fabrication method as opposed to the mechanical polishing of bulk crystals.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2021

Lasing in the Rashba-Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling regime in a dye-filled liquid crystal optical microcavity

In the presence of Rashba-Dresselhaus coupling, strong spin-orbit interactions in liquid crystal optical cavities result in a distinctive spin-split entangled dispersion. Spin coherence between such modes give rise to an optical persistent-spin-helix. In this letter, we introduce optical gain in such a system, by dispersing a molecular dye in a liquid-crystal microcavity. We demonstrate both lasing in the Rashba-Dresselhaus regime and the emergence of an optical persistent spin helix.

physics.optics↗