Dissipative quantum phase transitions in electrically driven lasers
Phys. Rev. A 113, 013718 – Published 12 January, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/tz9p-wfj7
Abstract
Embedding quantum-dot circuits into microwave cavities has emerged as a promising platform for controlling photon-emission statistics by electrical means. With such a circuit version of the Rabi model, we reveal previously unexplored quantum phase transitions in electrically driven lasing regimes. For one-photon interactions, the scaling analysis indicates that the system undergoes a continuous phase transition from thermal to coherent photon emissions. Going beyond this, a discontinuous quantum phase transition from superbunched to coherent states in two-photon processes, accompanied by the bistability within a mean-field theory, is predicted. Both the order of phase transitions and the critical electron-photon coupling can be easily controlled by an electric field, while the tunneling current can be used as a fingerprint of such transitions. Our prediction, along with its extension to multiphoton processes, represents a key step towards accessing lasing phase transitions.
