Controlled manipulation of light by cooperative response of atoms in an optical lattice

We show that atoms in an optical lattice can respond cooperatively to resonant incident light and that such a response can be employed for precise control and manipulation of light on a subwavelength scale. Specific collective excitation modes of the system that result from strong light-mediated dipole-dipole interactions can be addressed by tailoring the spatial phase profile of the incident light. We demonstrate how the collective response can be used to produce optical excitations at well-isolated sites on the lattice.