Collective emission of subwavelengths atom-like emitter arrays in the presence of inhomogeneous broadening

Abstract

Quantum metasurfaces comprised of subwavelength atomic arrays emerged as a promising platform for enhanced atom-photon interaction. However, realizing such a system with solid-state emitters has been considered impractical due to strong inhomogeneous broadening, which was expected to suppress the photon-mediated interactions that underpin collective emission. Here we report the observation of collective emission from subwavelength arrays of silicon-vacancy centres in diamond -- solid-state emitters whose inhomogeneous broadening exceeds the natural linewidth by two orders of magnitude -- demonstrating that collective effects such as resonance shifts, modified decay rates and directional coherent emission survive this disorder. A crucial enabling element is the implantation of a high density of silicon ions at each array site. This creates so-called superatoms, local ensembles that probabilistically achieve frequency matching across the array and enhance the collective response. We support our observations with a theoretical analysis explaining the mechanisms that preserve the collective effects even in the presence of inhomogeneity. These observations have direct implications for the realization of subwavelength arrays in any solid-state system, paving the way for quantum-emitter metasurfaces that are naturally integrated into nanophotonic environments.