In situ tunneling control in photonic potentials by Rashba–Dresselhaus spin–orbit coupling

The control over individual tunneling amplitudes in photonic lattices is highly desirable for photonic Hamiltonian engineering. In this work, we demonstrate the in situ control of tunneling between individual sites patterned inside an optical microcavity. The tuning is achieved by applying a voltage to a textured liquid crystal microcavity possessing photonic Rashba–Dresselhaus spin–orbit coupling. This type of spin–orbit coupling emerges due to the high birefringence of the liquid crystal material and constitutes an artificial gauge potential for photons. The proposed method is particularly interesting because it is non-invasive and highly scalable, making it suitable for integration into complex photonic systems. It can be combined with strong light–matter coupling and non-Hermitian physics already established in liquid crystal microcavities.