Integrating Twisted Cavities and Rydberg Atoms for Photonic Quantum Matter

Twisted optical cavities are a powerful tool for shaping photonic energy levels and creating artificial gauge fields for light. By combining a twisted optical cavity with ultracold atoms, we convert photons into quasiparticles known as cavity Rydberg polaritons, which can have strong mutual interactions through Rydberg blockade. These polaritons can be utilized to create Laughlin states, and the maximum size of the states that can be achieved is limited by the number of degenerate optical cavity modes as well as atomic density. We will report on our recent efforts to design and construct a highly integrated apparatus that includes an intra-cavity lens twisted resonator, a twisted build-up cavity for Rydberg excitation light, a DMD setup for optical mode generation and Landau level disorder characterization, electric field control as well as in-vacuum alignment capabilities. Novel ideas for assembling Laughlin states of increasing size using dissipative state preparation and possible techniques for state detection using imaging of the Rydberg component will also be presented. With recent upgrades on our system, we aim to realize and investigate topological quantum fluids.