  We consider a coupled-cavity array, where each cavity interacts with an atom
under the rotating-wave approximation. For a staggered pattern of inter-cavity
couplings, a pair of field normal modes each bi-localized at the two array ends
arise. A rich structure of dynamical regimes can hence be addressed depending
on which resonance condition between the atom and field modes is set. We show
that this can be harnessed to carry out high-fidelity quantum-state transfer
(QST) of photonic, atomic or polaritonic states. Moreover, by partitioning the
array into coupled modules of smaller length, the QST time can be substantially
shortened without significantly affecting the fidelity.
