Ground-state phase diagram of Rydberg atoms in a triangular-prism array
Phys. Rev. B 114, 175128 – Published 18 September, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/l86m-q84h
Abstract
We study the ground-state phase diagram of Rydberg atoms in a triangular-prism optical tweezer array using the density matrix renormalization group. Unlike two-leg Rydberg ladders with leg-exchange symmetry, the triangular prism possesses symmetry, giving rise to a richer set of ordered phases and transitions. At relatively small blockade radius, a density-wave phase appears at large detuning and breaks translational and rotational symmetry while preserving the reflection symmetry of the triangular rung. Upon decreasing detuning, it melts via a Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) transition into a critical phase and subsequently enters a disordered phase through a second BKT transition, forming a commensurate regime described at low energies by a clock model. At larger blockade radius, a phase with one Rydberg excitation per triangle emerges through a first-order transition. When double excitations on neighboring triangles are suppressed, rung-trimerized density waves develop as detuning increases from the disordered phase. These phases break translational symmetry while preserving symmetry, and their melting transitions exhibit critical behaviors similar to those in Rydberg chains and two-leg ladders. In addition, we identify a geometry-dependent crossover within the rung-trimerized phase, followed by a first-order transition into a phase with complete symmetry breaking. We also find floating phases with incommensurate quasi-long-range order between rung-trimerized states.