Fig. 3: Experimental implementation of disordered lattices.
From: Coexistence of dynamical delocalization and spectral localization through stochastic dissipation
a, Simplified experimental arrangement for temporally encoded lattices. Two unequally long optical fibre loops are connected by a variable beam splitter (VBS), which is set to 50:50 splitting. Acousto-optical modulators (AOMs) control the dissipation. A phase modulator (PM) controls the on-site energies. A photodetector measures the temporal light evolution. b, A linear chain of coupled sites (top) is realized as a 1D quantum walk (bottom). Different arrow widths correspond to different dissipation strengths. Different shades of green correspond to different on-site energies. c, The experimental propagation shows ballistic spreading for homogeneous lattices (left) compared to Anderson localization in Hermitian disordered lattices (centre, Wφ = 0.7π) at time step m and lattice position n. In the non-Hermitian case of dissipative disorder, stochastic transverse shifts of the most dominantly occupied localized state occur (right, Wγ = 0.19). a.u., arbitrary units.
