44 research outputs found
Coherent Oscillations in an Exciton-Polariton Josephson Junction
We report on the observation of spontaneous coherent oscillations in a
microcavity polariton bosonic Josephson junction. The condensation of exciton
polaritons takes place under incoherent excitation in a disordered environment,
where double potential wells tend to appear in the disordered landscape.
Coherent oscillations set on at an excitation power well above the condensation
threshold. The time resolved population and phase dynamics reveal the analogy
with the AC Josephson effect. We have introduced a theoretical two-mode model
to describe the observed effects, which allows us to explain how the different
realizations of the pulsed experiment have a similar phase relation
Spontaneous Pattern Formation in a Polariton Condensate
Polariton condensation can be regarded as a self-organization phenomenon,
where phase ordering is established among particles in the system. In such
condensed systems, further ordering can possibly occur in the particle density
distribution, under particular experimental conditions. In this work we report
on spontaneous pattern formation in a polariton condensate under non-resonant
optical pumping. The slightly elliptical ring-shaped excitation laser we employ
is such to force condensation to occur in a single-energy state with periodic
boundary conditions, giving rise to a multi-lobe standing wave patterned state
Soliton Instabilities and Vortex Streets Formation in a Polariton Quantum Fluid
Exciton-polaritons have been shown to be an optimal system in order to
investigate the properties of bosonic quantum fluids. We report here on the
observation of dark solitons in the wake of engineered circular obstacles and
their decay into streets of quantized vortices. Our experiments provide a
time-resolved access to the polariton phase and density, which allows for a
quantitative study of instabilities of freely evolving polaritons. The decay of
solitons is quantified and identified as an effect of disorder-induced
transverse perturbations in the dissipative polariton gas
Optical injection of charge current in quantum wires: oscillations induced by excitonic effects
We investigate the charge current that is optically injected by interference between one- and two-photon excitation in the presence of excitonic effects. We consider a realistic V-shaped quantum wire excited slightly below the band gap by two simultaneous femtosecond laser pulses of frequency 2 and that interact, respectively, with the lowest B1 and A1 excitons. Using effective multiband Bloch equations for two-photon transitions, including the Coulomb interaction within the Hartree-Fock approximation, we show that, because of the different symmetry properties of the involved excitons, the generated charge current displays oscillations due to the quantum interference between the excitonic coherences
From single particle to superfuid excitations in a dissipative polariton gas
Using angle-resolved heterodyne four-wave-mixing technique, we probe the low
momentum excitation spectrum of a coherent polariton gas. The experimental
results are well captured by the Bogoliubov transformation which describes the
transition from single particle excitations of a normal fluid to
sound-wave-like excitations of a superfluid. In a dense coherent polariton gas,
we find all the characteristics of a Bogoliubov transformation, i.e. the
positive and negative energy branch with respect to the polariton gas energy at
rest, sound-wave-like shapes for the excitations dispersion, intensity and
linewidth ratio between the two branches in agreement with the theory. The
influence of the non-equilibrium character of the polariton gas is shown by a
careful analysis of its dispersion.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Synchronized and Desynchronized Phases of Exciton-Polariton Condensates in the Presence of Disorder
Condensation of exciton-polaritons in semiconductor microcavities takes place
despite in plane disorder. Below the critical density the inhomogeneity of the
potential seen by the polaritons strongly limits the spatial extension of the
ground state. Above the critical density, in presence of weak disorder, this
limitation is spontaneously overcome by the non linear interaction, resulting
in an extended synchronized phase. This mechanism is clearly evidenced by
spatial and spectral studies, coupled to interferometric measurements. In case
of strong disorder, several non phase-locked (independent) condensates can be
evidenced. The transition from synchronized phase to desynchronized phase is
addressed considering multiple realizations of the disorder.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures,corrected typos, added figure
Dynamics of long-range order in an exciton-polariton condensate
We report on time resolved measurements of the first order spatial coherence
in an exciton polariton Bose-Einstein condensate. Long range spatial coherence
is found to set in right at the onset of stimulated scattering, on a picosecond
time scale. The coherence reaches its maximum value after the population and
decays slower, staying up to a few hundreds of picoseconds. This behavior can
be qualitatively reproduced, using a stochastic classical field model
describing interaction between the polariton condensate and the exciton
reservoir within a disordered potential.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure
Polariton Condensation in a One-Dimensional Disordered Potential
We study the coherence and density modulation of a non-equilibrium
exciton-polariton condensate in a one-dimensional valley with disorder. By
means of interferometric measurements we evidence a modulation of the
first-order coherence function and we relate it to a disorder-induced
modulation of the condensate density, that increases as the pump power is
increased. The non-monotonous spatial coherence function is found to be the
result of the strong non-equilibrium character of the one-dimensional system,
in the presence of disorder
Multistability of a coherent spin ensemble in a semiconductor microcavity
Coherent manipulation of spin ensembles is a key issue in the development of spintronics. In particular, multivalued spin switching may lead to new schemes of logic gating and memories. This phenomenon has been studied with atom vapours 30 years ago, but is still awaited in the solid state. Here, we demonstrate spin multistability with microcavity polaritons in a trap. Owing to the spinor nature of these light-matter quasiparticles and to the anisotropy of their interactions, we can optically control the spin state of a single confined level by tuning the excitation power, frequency and polarization. First, we realize high-efficiency power-dependent polarization switching. Then, at constant excitation power, we evidence polarization hysteresis and determine the conditions for realizing multivalued spin switching. Finally, we demonstrate an unexpected regime, where our system behaves as a high-contrast spin trigger. These results open new pathways to the development of advanced spintronics devices and to the realization of multivalued logic circuits
Comment on "Linear wave dynamics explains observations attributed to dark-solitons in a polariton quantum fluid"
In a recent preprint (arXiv:1401.1128v1) Cilibrizzi and co-workers report
experiments and simulations showing the scattering of polaritons against a
localised obstacle in a semiconductor microcavity. The authors observe in the
linear excitation regime the formation of density and phase patterns
reminiscent of those expected in the non-linear regime from the nucleation of
dark solitons. Based on this observation, they conclude that previous
theoretical and experimental reports on dark solitons in a polariton system
should be revised. Here we comment why the results from Cilibrizzi et al. take
place in a very different regime than previous investigations on dark soliton
nucleation and do not reproduce all the signatures of its rich nonlinear
phenomenology. First of all, Cilibrizzi et al. consider a particular type of
radial excitation that strongly determines the observed patterns, while in
previous reports the excitation has a plane-wave profile. Most importantly, the
nonlinear relation between phase jump, soliton width and fluid velocity, and
the existence of a critical velocity with the time-dependent formation of
vortex-antivortex pairs are absent in the linear regime. In previous reports
about dark soliton and half-dark soliton nucleation in a polariton fluid, the
distinctive dark soliton physics is supported both by theory (analytical and
numerical) and experiments (both continuous wave and pulsed excitation).Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure