- Letter
Supersolid light in a semiconductor microcavity
Phys. Rev. A 113, L031303 – Published 13 March, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/mqmz-nwqj
Abstract
Supersolidity—the simultaneous superfluid flow and crystalline order—has been realized in quantum atomic systems, but remains widely unexplored in photonic platforms operating at weak light-matter coupling. We predict a supersolid phase of light in a plasma-filled optical microcavity, where photons acquire effective mass and interact via nonlocal, plasma-mediated nonlinearities. By deriving a Gross-Pitaevskii equation with a tunable photon-photon interaction kernel, we show that the light field can spontaneously crystallize into a supersolid lattice via modulational instability. Crucially, this supersolid arises from a weak photon-electron coupling enabled by virtual electronic transitions and it does not require hybrid polariton formation. Using doped semiconductor microcavities, we identify accessible conditions (electron densities and optical intensities ) for experimental realization. This work establishes plasmonic cavities as a platform for correlated photonic matter with emergent quantum order.