59 research outputs found
Polariton Condensation and Lasing
The similarities and differences between polariton condensation in
microcavities and standard lasing in a semiconductor cavity structure are
reviewed. The recent experiments on "photon condensation" are also reviewed.Comment: 23 pages, 6 figures; Based on the book chapter in Exciton Polaritons
in Microcavities, (Springer Series in Solid State Sciences vol. 172), V.
Timofeev and D. Sanvitto, eds., (Springer, 2012
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Inverse-designed diamond photonics
Diamond hosts optically active color centers with great promise in quantum computation, networking, and sensing. Realization of such applications is contingent upon the integration of color centers into photonic circuits. However, current diamond quantum optics experiments are restricted to single devices and few quantum emitters because fabrication constraints limit device functionalities, thus precluding color center integrated photonic circuits. In this work, we utilize inverse design methods to overcome constraints of cutting-edge diamond nanofabrication methods and fabricate compact and robust diamond devices with unique specifications. Our design method leverages advanced optimization techniques to search the full parameter space for fabricable device designs. We experimentally demonstrate inverse-designed photonic free-space interfaces as well as their scalable integration with two vastly different devices: classical photonic crystal cavities and inverse-designed waveguide-splitters. The multi-device integration capability and performance of our inverse-designed diamond platform represents a critical advancement toward integrated diamond quantum optical circuits
Disorder Effects on Exciton-Polariton Condensates
The impact of a random disorder potential on the dynamical properties of Bose
Einstein condensates is a very wide research field. In microcavities, these
studies are even more crucial than in the condensates of cold atoms, since
random disorder is naturally present in the semiconductor structures. In this
chapter, we consider a stable condensate, defined by a chemical potential,
propagating in a random disorder potential, like a liquid flowing through a
capillary. We analyze the interplay between the kinetic energy, the
localization energy, and the interaction between particles in 1D and 2D
polariton condensates. The finite life time of polaritons is taken into account
as well. In the first part, we remind the results of [G. Malpuech et al. Phys.
Rev. Lett. 98, 206402 (2007).] where we considered the case of a static
condensate. In that case, the condensate forms either a glassy insulating phase
at low polariton density (strong localization), or a superfluid phase above the
percolation threshold. We also show the calculation of the first order spatial
coherence of the condensate versus the condensate density. In the second part,
we consider the case of a propagating non-interacting condensate which is
always localized because of Anderson localization. The localization length is
calculated in the Born approximation. The impact of the finite polariton life
time is taken into account as well. In the last section we consider the case of
a propagating interacting condensate where the three regimes of strong
localization, Anderson localization, and superfluid behavior are accessible.
The localization length is calculated versus the system parameters. The
localization length is strongly modified with respect to the non-interacting
case. It is infinite in the superfluid regime whereas it is strongly reduced if
the fluid flows with a supersonic velocity.Comment: chapter for a book "Exciton Polaritons in Microcavities: New
Frontiers" by Springer (2012), the original publication is available at
http://www.springerlink.co
Vortices in polariton OPO superfluids
This chapter reviews the occurrence of quantised vortices in polariton
fluids, primarily when polaritons are driven in the optical parametric
oscillator (OPO) regime. We first review the OPO physics, together with both
its analytical and numerical modelling, the latter being necessary for the
description of finite size systems. Pattern formation is typical in systems
driven away from equilibrium. Similarly, we find that uniform OPO solutions can
be unstable to the spontaneous formation of quantised vortices. However,
metastable vortices can only be injected externally into an otherwise stable
symmetric state, and their persistence is due to the OPO superfluid properties.
We discuss how the currents charactering an OPO play a crucial role in the
occurrence and dynamics of both metastable and spontaneous vortices.Comment: 40 pages, 16 figure
Observation of bright polariton solitons in a semiconductor microcavity
Microcavity polaritons are composite half-light half-matter quasi-particles,
which have recently been demonstrated to exhibit rich physical properties, such
as non-equilibrium Bose-Einstein condensation, parametric scattering and
superfluidity. At the same time, polaritons have some important advantages over
photons for information processing applications, since their excitonic
component leads to weaker diffraction and stronger inter-particle interactions,
implying, respectively, tighter localization and lower powers for nonlinear
functionality. Here we present the first experimental observations of bright
polariton solitons in a strongly coupled semiconductor microcavity. The
polariton solitons are shown to be non-diffracting high density wavepackets,
that are strongly localised in real space with a corresponding broad spectrum
in momentum space. Unlike solitons known in other matter-wave systems such as
Bose condensed ultracold atomic gases, they are non-equilibrium and rely on a
balance between losses and external pumping. Microcavity polariton solitons are
excited on picosecond timescales, and thus have significant benefits for
ultrafast switching and transfer of information over their light only
counterparts, semiconductor cavity lasers (VCSELs), which have only nanosecond
response time
Single vortex-antivortex pair in an exciton polariton condensate
In a homogeneous two-dimensional system at non-zero temperature, although
there can be no ordering of infinite range, a superfluid phase is predicted for
a Bose liquid. The stabilization of phase in this superfluid regime is achieved
by the formation of bound vortex-antivortex pairs. It is believed that several
different systems share this common behaviour, when the parameter describing
their ordered state has two degrees of freedom, and the theory has been tested
for some of them. However, there has been no direct experimental observation of
the phase stabilization mechanism by a bound pair. Here we present an
experimental technique that can identify a single vortex-antivortex pair in a
two-dimensional exciton polariton condensate. The pair is generated by the
inhomogeneous pumping spot profile, and is revealed in the time-integrated
phase maps acquired using Michelson interferometry, which show that the
condensate phase is only locally disturbed. Numerical modelling based on open
dissipative Gross-Pitaevskii equation suggests that the pair evolution is quite
different in this non-equilibrium system compared to atomic condensates. Our
results demonstrate that the exciton polariton condensate is a unique system
for studying two-dimensional superfluidity in a previously inaccessible regime
Half-solitons in a polariton quantum fluid behave like magnetic monopoles
Monopoles are magnetic charges, point-like sources of magnetic field.
Contrary to electric charges they are absent in Maxwell's equations and have
never been observed as fundamental particles. Quantum fluids such as spinor
Bose-Einstein condensates have been predicted to show monopoles in the form of
excitations combining phase and spin topologies. Thanks to its unique spin
structure and the direct optical control of the fluid wavefunction, an ideal
system to experimentally explore this phenomenon is a condensate of
exciton-polaritons in a semiconductor microcavity. We use this system to create
half-solitons, non-linear excitations with mixed spin-phase geometry. By
tracking their trajectory, we demonstrate that half-solitons behave as
monopoles, magnetic charges accelerated along an effective magnetic field
present in the microcavity. The field-induced spatial separation of
half-solitons of opposite charges opens the way to the generation of magnetic
currents in a quantum fluid.Comment: 19 pages, includes Supplmentary Informatio
Sculpting oscillators with light within a nonlinear quantum fluid
Seeing macroscopic quantum states directly remains an elusive goal. Particles
with boson symmetry can condense into such quantum fluids producing rich
physical phenomena as well as proven potential for interferometric devices
[1-10]. However direct imaging of such quantum states is only fleetingly
possible in high-vacuum ultracold atomic condensates, and not in
superconductors. Recent condensation of solid state polariton quasiparticles,
built from mixing semiconductor excitons with microcavity photons, offers
monolithic devices capable of supporting room temperature quantum states
[11-14] that exhibit superfluid behaviour [15,16]. Here we use microcavities on
a semiconductor chip supporting two-dimensional polariton condensates to
directly visualise the formation of a spontaneously oscillating quantum fluid.
This system is created on the fly by injecting polaritons at two or more
spatially-separated pump spots. Although oscillating at tuneable THz-scale
frequencies, a simple optical microscope can be used to directly image their
stable archetypal quantum oscillator wavefunctions in real space. The
self-repulsion of polaritons provides a solid state quasiparticle that is so
nonlinear as to modify its own potential. Interference in time and space
reveals the condensate wavepackets arise from non-equilibrium solitons. Control
of such polariton condensate wavepackets demonstrates great potential for
integrated semiconductor-based condensate devices.Comment: accepted in Nature Physic
Quantum-fluid dynamics of microcavity polaritons
Semiconductor microcavities offer a unique system to investigate the physics
of weakly interacting bosons. Their elementary excitations, polaritons--a
mixture of excitons and photons--behave, in the low density limit, as bosons
that can undergo a phase transition to a regime characterised by long range
coherence. Condensates of polaritons have been advocated as candidates for
superfluidity; and the formation of vortices as well as elementary excitations
with a linear dispersion are actively sought after. In this work, we have
created and set in motion a macroscopically degenerate state of polaritons and
let it collide with a variety of defects present in the sample. Our experiments
show striking manifestations of a coherent light-matter packet that displays
features of a superfluid, although one of a highly unusual character as it
involves an out-of-equilibrium dissipative system where it travels at
ultra-fast velocity of the order of 1% the speed of light. Our main results are
the observation of i) a linear polariton dispersion accompanied with
diffusion-less motion, ii) flow without resistance when crossing an obstacle,
iii) suppression of Rayleigh scattering and iv) splitting into two fluids when
the size of the obstacle is comparable with the size of the wavepacket. This
work opens the way to the investigation of new phenomenology of
out-of-equilibrium condensates.Comment: 22 pages, 5 figure
Observation of Superfluidity of Polaritons in Semiconductor Microcavities
One of the most striking manifestations of quantum coherence in interacting
boson systems is superfluidity. Exciton-polaritons in semiconductor
microcavities are two-dimensional composite bosons predicted to behave as
particular quantum fluids. We report the observation of superfluid motion of
polaritons created by a laser in a semiconductor microcavity. Superfluidity is
investigated in terms of the Landau criterion and manifests itself as the
suppression of scattering from defects when the flow velocity is slower than
the speed of sound in the fluid. On the other hand, a Cerenkov-like wake
pattern is clearly observed when the flow velocity exceeds the speed of sound.
The experimental findings are in excellent quantitative agreement with the
predictions based on a generalized Gross-Pitaevskii theory, showing that
polaritons in microcavities constitute a very rich system for exploring the
physics of non-equilibrium quantum fluids.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figure
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