Critical fluctuations in a confined driven-dissipative quantum condensate

Phase fluctuations determine the low-energy properties of quantum condensates. However, at the condensation threshold, both density and phase fluctuations are relevant. While strong emphasis has been given to the investigation of phase fluctuations, which dominate the physics of the quantum system away from the critical point -- number fluctuations have been much less explored, even in thermal equilibrium. In this work, we report experimental observation and theoretical description of fluctuations in a circularly-confined non-equilibrium Bose-Einstein condensate of polaritons near the condensation threshold. We observe critical fluctuations, which combine the number fluctuations of a single-mode condensate state and competition between different states. The latter are analogous to mode hopping in photon lasers. Our theoretical analysis indicates that this phenomenon is of a quantum character, while classical noise of the pump is not sufficient to explain the experiments. The manifestation of a critical quantum state competition unlocks new possibilities for the study of condensate formation while linking to practical realizations in photonic lasers

Bose condensation of upper-branch exciton-polaritons in a transferrable microcavity

Exciton-polaritons are composite bosonic quasiparticles arising from the strong coupling of excitonic transitions and optical modes. Exciton-polaritons have triggered wide exploration in the past decades not only due to their rich quantum phenomena such as superfluidity, superconductivity and quantized vortices but also due to their potential applications for unconventional coherent light sources and all-optical control elements. Here, we report the observation of Bose-Einstein condensation of the upper polariton branch in a transferrable WS$_2$ monolayer microcavity. Near the condensation threshold, we observe a nonlinear increase in upper polariton intensity. This sharp increase in intensity is accompanied by a decrease of the linewidth and an increase of the upper polariton temporal coherence, all of which are hallmarks of Bose-Einstein condensation. By simulating the quantum Boltzmann equation, we show that the upper polariton condensation only occurs for a particular range of particle density. We can attribute the creation of Bose condensation of the upper polariton to the following requirements: 1) the upper polariton is more excitonic than the lower one; 2) there is relatively more pumping in the upper branch; and 3) the conversion time from the upper to the lower polariton branch is long compared to the lifetime of the upper polaritons

Direct observation of the quantum fluctuation driven amplitude mode in a microcavity polariton condensate

The Higgs amplitude mode is a collective excitation studied and observed in a broad class of matter, including superconductors, charge density waves, antiferromagnets, He3 p-wave superfluid, and ultracold atomic condensates. In all the observations reported thus far, the amplitude mode was excited by perturbing the condensate out of equilibrium. Studying an exciton-polariton condensate, here, we report the observation of this amplitude mode purely driven by intrinsic quantum fluctuations without such perturbations. By using an ultrahigh quality microcavity and a Raman spectrometer to maximally reject photoluminescence (PL) from the condensate, we observe weak but distinct PL at energies below the condensate emission. We identify this as the so-called ghost branches of the amplitude mode arising from quantum depletion of the condensate into this mode. These energies, as well as the overall structure of the PL spectra, are in good agreement with our theoretical analysis.</p

Direct observation of the quantum fluctuation driven amplitude mode in a microcavity polariton condensate

The Higgs amplitude mode is a collective excitation studied and observed in a broad class of matter, including superconductors, charge density waves, antiferromagnets, He3 p-wave superfluid, and ultracold atomic condensates. In all the observations reported thus far, the amplitude mode was excited by perturbing the condensate out of equilibrium. Studying an exciton-polariton condensate, here, we report the observation of this amplitude mode purely driven by intrinsic quantum fluctuations without such perturbations. By using an ultrahigh quality microcavity and a Raman spectrometer to maximally reject photoluminescence (PL) from the condensate, we observe weak but distinct PL at energies below the condensate emission. We identify this as the so-called ghost branches of the amplitude mode arising from quantum depletion of the condensate into this mode. These energies, as well as the overall structure of the PL spectra, are in good agreement with our theoretical analysis.</p

Bose Condensation of Upper-Branch Exciton-Polaritons in a Transferable Microcavity

Exciton-polaritons are composite quasiparticles that result from the coupling of excitonic transitions and optical modes. They have been extensively studied because of their quantum phenomena and potential applications in unconventional coherent light sources and all-optical control elements. In this work, we report the observation of Bose–Einstein condensation of the upper polariton branch in a transferable WS2 monolayer microcavity. Near the condensation threshold, we observe a nonlinear increase in upper polariton intensity accompanied by a decrease in line width and an increase in temporal coherence, all of which are hallmarks of Bose–Einstein condensation. Simulations show that this condensation occurs within a specific particle density range, depending on the excitonic properties and pumping conditions. The manifestation of upper polariton condensation unlocks new possibilities for studying the condensate competition while linking it to practical realizations in polaritonic lasers. Our findings contribute to the understanding of bosonic systems and offer potential for the development of polaritonic devices