Tunable pseudo-magnetic fields for polaritons in strained metasurfaces

Abstract: Artificial magnetic fields are revolutionizing our ability to manipulate neutral particles, by enabling the emulation of exotic phenomena once thought to be exclusive to charged particles. In particular, pseudo-magnetic fields generated by nonuniform strain in artificial lattices have attracted considerable interest because of their simple geometrical origin. However, to date, these strain-induced pseudo-magnetic fields have failed to emulate the tunability of real magnetic fields because they are dictated solely by the strain configuration. Here, we overcome this apparent limitation for polaritons supported by strained metasurfaces, which can be realized with classical dipole antennas or quantum dipole emitters. Without altering the strain configuration, we unveil how one can tune the pseudo-magnetic field by modifying the electromagnetic environment via an enclosing photonic cavity which modifies the nature of the interactions between the dipoles. Remarkably, due to the competition between short-range Coulomb interactions and long-range photon-mediated interactions, we find that the pseudo-magnetic field can be entirely switched off at a critical cavity height for any strain configuration. Consequently, by varying only the cavity height, we demonstrate a tunable Lorentz-like force that can be switched on/off and an unprecedented collapse and revival of polariton Landau levels. Unlocking this tunable pseudo-magnetism for the first time poses new intriguing questions beyond the paradigm of conventional tight-binding physics.