Tunable dipole–dipole interactions between nanoparticles levitated by two orthogonally polarized optical traps

Abstract

Arrays of optically levitated nanoparticles with fully tunable light-induced dipole–dipole interactions have emerged as a platform for fundamental research and sensing applications. However, previous experiments utilized two optical traps with identical polarization, leading to an interference effect. Here, we demonstrate light-induced dipole–dipole interactions using two orthogonally polarized optical traps. Furthermore, we achieve control over the strength and polarity of the optical coupling by adjusting the polarization and propose a method to simultaneously and stably measure conservative and non-conservative coupling rates. Our results provide a new scheme for exploring entanglement and topological phases in arrays of levitated nanoparticles.