Bosonic Condensation and Disorder-Induced Localization in a Flat Band

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Abstract
We report on the engineering of a nondispersive (flat) energy band in a geometrically frustrated lattice of micropillar optical cavities. By taking advantage of the non-Hermitian nature of our system, we achieve bosonic condensation of exciton polaritons into the flat band. Because of the infinite effective mass in such a band, the condensate is highly sensitive to disorder and fragments into localized modes reflecting the elementary eigenstates produced by geometric frustration. This realization offers a novel approach to studying coherent phases of light and matter under the controlled interplay of frustration, interactions, and dissipation.
Funding Information
  • National Science Foundation (DMR-1151810)
  • City University of New York (CIRG-802091621)
  • Agence Nationale de la Recherche project Quandyde (ANR-11-BS10-001)
  • EU-FET (640800))
  • Ambizione Fellowship (PZ00P2_142539)