Versatile photonic frequency synthetic dimensions using a single programmable on-chip device

Zhao-An Wang, Xiao-Dong Zeng, Yi-Tao Wang, Jia-Ming Ren, Chun Ao, Zhi-Peng Li, Wei Liu, Nai-Jie Guo, Lin-Ke Xie, Jun-You Liu, Yu-Hang Ma, Ya-Qi Wu, Xi-Wang Luo, Shuang Wang, Jian-Shun Tang (), Chuan-Feng Li () and Guang-Can Guo
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Zhao-An Wang: University of Science and Technology of China
Xiao-Dong Zeng: University of Science and Technology of China
Yi-Tao Wang: University of Science and Technology of China
Jia-Ming Ren: University of Science and Technology of China
Chun Ao: University of Science and Technology of China
Zhi-Peng Li: University of Science and Technology of China
Wei Liu: University of Science and Technology of China
Nai-Jie Guo: University of Science and Technology of China
Lin-Ke Xie: University of Science and Technology of China
Jun-You Liu: University of Science and Technology of China
Yu-Hang Ma: University of Science and Technology of China
Ya-Qi Wu: University of Science and Technology of China
Xi-Wang Luo: University of Science and Technology of China
Shuang Wang: University of Science and Technology of China
Jian-Shun Tang: University of Science and Technology of China
Chuan-Feng Li: University of Science and Technology of China
Guang-Can Guo: University of Science and Technology of China

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-7

Abstract: Abstract Investigating physical models with photonic synthetic dimensions has been generating great interest in vast fields of science. The rapidly developing thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) platform, for its numerous advantages including high electro-optic coefficient and scalability, is well compatible with the realization of synthetic dimensions in the frequency together with spatial domain. While coupling resonators with fixed beam splitters is a common experimental approach, it often lacks tunability and limits coupling between adjacent lattices to sites occupying the same frequency domain positions. Here, on the contrary, we conceive the resonator arrays connected by electro-optic tunable Mach–Zehnder interferometers in our configuration instead of fixed beam splitters. By applying bias voltage and RF modulation on the interferometers, our design extends such coupling to long-range scenario and allows for continuous tuning on each coupling strength and synthetic effective magnetic flux. Therefore, our design enriches controllable coupling types that are essential for building programmable lattice networks and significantly increases versatility. As the example, we experimentally fabricate a two-resonator prototype on the TFLN platform, and on this single chip we realize well-known models including tight-binding lattices, the Hall ladder and Creutz ladder. We directly observe the band structures in the quasi-momentum space and important phenomena such as spin-momentum locking, flat band and the Aharonov–Bohm cage effect. These results demonstrate the potential for convenient simulations of more complex models in our configuration.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-63114-w

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