We report on time-resolved photoluminescence from semiconductor microcavities showing that an optically controllable mechanism exists to turn on and off memory effects in a polariton system. By increasing the laser pumping pulse intensity we observe revivals of the decaying time-resolved photoluminescence signal, a manifestly non-Markovian behavior of the optically active polaritons. Based on an open quantum system approach we perform a comprehensive analytical and numerical study of the coupling of optically active polaritons to a structured reservoir to confirm the origin of the observed features. Our findings show that negative detunings and strong excitation should occur simultaneously for memory effects to take place.
We theoretically calculate the polariton linewidth associated with the polariton-electron scattering in a microcavity in presence of a magnetic field perpendicular to the microcavity plane. It is shown that the polariton linewidth oscillates as a function of the magnetic field magnitude and the polariton-electron scattering rate can be not only decreased but also increased by the magnetic field. The possible applications of such an effect are discussed.
We demonstrate theoretically that the interaction of two degenerate condensates of exciton-polaritons in microcavities leads to polarization dependent parametric oscillations. The resonant polariton-polariton scattering is governed by the polarization of the condensates and can be fully suppressed for certain polarizations. A polarization controlled solid state optical gate is proposed.
We consider the system of a quantum well embedded in a planar semiconductor microcavity with a shallow circular mesa patterned on top of the cavity spacer. For this system we develop the linear coupling theory of polaritons. We then compute polariton eigenstates and the corresponding optical spectrum. The theory predicts the existence of laterally confined polariton states with a discrete energy spectrum, as well as continuum states above the finite mesa potential barrier.
We show theoretically that a weakly interacting gas of spin-polarized exciton-polaritons in a semiconductor microcavity supports propagation of spin waves. The spin waves are characterised by a parabolic dispersion at small wavevectors which is governed by the polariton-polariton interaction constant. Due to spin-anisotropy of polariton-polariton interactions the dispersion of spin waves depends on the orientation of the total polariton spin. For the same reason, the frequency of homogeneous spin precession/polariton spin resonance depends on their polarization degree.
In this manuscript we will gather clear experimental evidences of remote coherence between two polariton condensate droplets that have never overlapped in real space and discuss how these interferences in momentum space can be used to estimate the critical temperature for the BEC like transition.
The dynamics of optical switching in semiconductor microcavities in the strong coupling regime is studied using time- and spatially-resolved spectroscopy. The switching is triggered by polarised short pulses which create spin bullets of high polariton density. The spin packets travel with speeds of the order of 106 m/s due to the ballistic propagation and drift of exciton-polaritons from high to low density areas. The speed is controlled by the angle of incidence of the excitation beams, which changes the polariton group velocity.
In this letter we introduce a complete photonic logic gate architecture, making use of the non-linear and spintronic properties of exciton-polaritons in semiconductor microcavities. This hybrid light-matter design is highly compact and offers the advantages expected of photonic circuits including: no distance-dependent loss or signal gradation; electrical isolation and immunity to electromagnetic interference; reduced error-checking overhead; and direct coupling to external light, useful for fibre optic communication.
By exploiting the polarization multistability of polaritons, we show that polarized signals can be conducted in the plane of a semiconductor microcavity along controlled channels or "neurons". Furthermore due to the interaction of polaritons with opposite spins it is possible to realize binary logic gates operating on the polarization degree of freedom. Multiple gates can be integrated together to form an optical circuit contained in a single semiconductor microcavity.
A scheme is proposed for the generation of branch-entangled pairs of microcavity polaritons through spontaneous inter-branch parametric scattering. Branch-entanglement is achievable when there are two twin processes, where the role of signal and idler can be exchanged between two different polariton branches. Branch-entanglement of polariton pairs can lead to the emission of frequency-entangled photon pairs out of the microcavity. In planar microcavities, the necessary phase-matching conditions are fulfilled for pumping of the upper polariton branch at an arbitrary in-plane wave-vector. The im…
We demonstrate a method to create potential barriers with polarized light beams for polaritons in semiconductor microcavities. The form of the barriers is engineered via the real space shape of a focalised beam on the sample. Their height can be determined by the visibility of the scattering waves generated in a polariton fluid interacting with them. This technique opens up the way to the creation of dynamical potentials and defects of any shape in semiconductor microcavities.
The interaction between coherent polaritons and incoherent excitons plays an important role in polariton physics. Using resonant pump-probe spectroscopy with selective excitation of single polariton branches, we investigate the different dephasing mechanisms responsible for generating a long-lived exciton reservoir. As expected, pumping the upper polariton results in a strong dephasing process that leads to the generation of a long lived reservoir. Unexpectedly, we observe an efficient reservoir creation while exciting only the lower polariton branch when the detuning is increased towards posi…
We propose and model Floquet topological polaritons in semiconductor microcavities, using the interference of frequency detuned coherent fields to provide a time periodic potential. For arbitrarily weak field strength, where the Floquet frequency is larger than the relevant bandwidth of the system, a Chern insulator is obtained. As the field strength is increased, a topological phase transition is observed with an unpaired Dirac cone proclaiming the anomalous Floquet topological insulator. As the relevant bandwidth increases even further, an exotic Chern insulator with flat band is observed wi…
It is shown theoretically that Bose condensation of spin-degenerated exciton-polaritons results in spontaneous buildup of the linear polarization in emission spectra of semiconductor microcavities. The linear polarization degree is a good order parameter for the polariton Bose condensation. If spin-degeneracy is lifted, an elliptically polarized light is emitted by the polariton condensate. The main axis of the ellipse rotates in time due to self-induced Larmor precession of the polariton condensate pseudospin. The polarization decay time is governed by the dephasing induced by the polariton-p…
We consider the excitation of polariton wakefields due to a propagating source in a semiconductor micro cavity. We show that two kinds of wakes are possible, depending on the constituents fraction (either exciton or photon) of the polariton wavefunction. The nature of the wakefields (pure excitonic or polaritonic) can be controled by changing the speed of propagation of the external pump. This process could be used as a diagnostic for the internal parameters of the microcavity.
We show that planar semiconductor microcavities in the strong coupling regime can be used as sources of stimulated terahertz (THz) radiation. Emitted THz photons would have a frequency of the spliting of the cavity polariton modes. The optical transition between upper and lower polariton branches is allowed due to mixing of the upper polariton state with one of excited exciton states. This transition is stimulated in the polariton laser regime.
We demonstrate strong light-matter interaction at ambient conditions between a ladder-type conjugated polymer and the individual modes of a vertical microcavity with tunable resonance frequencies. Zero-dimensional wavelength-scale confinement for the polaritons is achieved through a sub-micron sized Gaussian defect, resulting in a vacuum Rabi splitting of the polariton branches of 2g = 166 meV. By placing a second Gaussian defect nearby, we create a polaritonic molecule with tunnel coupling strength of up to 2J ~ 50 meV. This platform enables the creation of tailor-made potential landscapes wi…
Optically generated exciton-polaritons in cylindric semiconductor pillar microcavity with embedded GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells demonstrate a clear polariton lasing regime. When exciting in the center of the pillar we detect a ring-shaped emission, where the peak of intensity can be separated from the excitation spot by more than 10 micrometers. The spatial coherence of the ring emission is verified by interferometry measurements. These observations are interpreted by drift of the exciton polariton condensate away from the excitation spot due to its repulsion from the exciton reservoir and by its…
We predict that the transverse electric-magnetic polarization splitting of exciton-polaritons allows a simple technique for the generation of polariton vortices of winding number 2 in semiconductor microcavities. The vortices can be excited by circularly polarized light having no orbital angular momentum and observed as phase vortices in the opposite circular polarization or directly as linear polarization vortices. The prediction is explained by a simplified analytical linear model and shown fully with a numerical model based on the Gross-Pitaevskii equations, which includes the non-linear ef…
We demonstrate an efficient switching between strong and weak exciton-photon coupling regimes in microcavity-embedded asymmetric double quantum wells, controlled by an applied electric field. We show that a fine tuning of the electric field leads to drastic changes in the polariton properties, with the polariton ground state being red-shifted by a few meV and having acquired prominent features of a spatially indirect dipolar exciton. We study the properties of dipolar exciton polaritons, called dipolaritons, on a microscopic level and show that, unlike recent findings, they are not dark polari…
We develop a theory of spin fluctuations of exciton-polaritons in a semiconductor microcavity under the non-resonant unpolarized pumping. It is shown that the corresponding spin noise is sensitive to the scattering rates in the system, occupation of the ground state, statistics of polaritons, and interactions. The spin noise spectrum drastically narrows in the polariton lasing regime due to formation of a polariton condensate, while its shape can become non-Lorentzian owing to interaction-induced spin decoherence.
Planar microcavities filled with active materials containing excitonic resonances host radiative exciton-polariton (polariton) modes with in-plane wave vectors within the light cone. They also host at least one mode guided in the cavity plane by total internal reflection and which is not radiatively coupled to the vacuum modes except through defects or sample edges. We show that polariton lasing mediated by polariton stimulated scattering can occur concomitantly in both types of modes in a microcavity. By adjusting the detuning between the exciton and the radiative photon mode one can favor po…
We apply the fermion commutation technique for composite bosons to polariton-polariton scattering in semiconductor planar microcavities. Derivations are presented in a simple and physically transparent fashion. A procedure of orthogonolization of the initial and final two-exciton state wavefunctions is used to calculate the effective scattering matrix elements and the scattering rates. We show how the bosonic stimulation of the scattering appears in this full fermionic approach whose equivalence to the bosonization method is thus demonstrated in the regime of low exciton density. We find an ad…
The non-local dielectric response theory is extended to describe oblique reflection of light from quantum wells subjected to the magnetic field. This allows us to calculate the dispersion and polarization of the exciton-polariton modes in semiconductor microcavities in the presence of a magnetic field normal to the plane of the structure. We show that due to the interplay between the exciton Zeeman splitting and TE-TM splitting of the photon modes, four polariton dispersion branches are formed with a polarization gradually changing from circular in the exciton-like part to linear in the photon…
We present a time-resolved study of energy relaxation and trapping dynamics of polariton condensates in a semiconductor microcavity ridge. The combination of two non-resonant, pulsed laser sources in a GaAs ridge-shaped microcavity gives rise to profuse quantum phenomena where the repulsive potentials created by the lasers allow the modulation and control of the polariton flow. We analyze in detail the dependence of the dynamics on the power of both lasers and determine the optimum conditions for realizing an all-optical polariton condensate transistor switch. The experimental results are inte…
We report on the realization of polariton quantum boxes in a semiconductor microcavity under strong coupling regime. The quantum boxes consist of mesas that confine the cavity photon, etched on top of the spacer of a microcavity. For mesas with sizes of the order of a few micron in width and nm in depth, we observe quantization, caused by the lateral confinement, of the polariton modes in several peaks. We evidence the strong exciton-photon coupling regime through a typical/clear anticrossing curve for each quantized level. Moreover the growth technique is of high quality, which opens the way …
We have experimentally observed an eddy current of exciton polaritons arising in a cylindrical GaAs/AlGaAs pillar microcavity under the nonresonant optical pumping. The polariton current manifests itself in a Mach-Zehnder interferometry image as a characteristic spiral that occurs due to the interference of the light emitted by an exciton-polariton condensate with a spherical wave artificially shaped from the emission of the same condensate. We have experimentally observed the condensates with the topological charges m = +1, m = -1 and m = -2. The interference pattern corresponding to the m = …
Analysis of exciton-polariton condensation under different pumping schemes for 1D and 2D microcavities including the effect of strong correlation between polaritons
We study the thermodynamic condensation of microcavity polaritons using a realistic model of disorder in semiconductor quantum wells. This approach correctly describes the polariton inhomogeneous broadening in the low density limit, and treats scattering by disorder to all orders in the condensed regime. While the weak disorder changes the thermodynamic properties of the transition little, the effects of disorder in the condensed state are prominent in the excitations and can be seen in resonant Rayleigh scattering.
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 pa…
Organic microcavities are photonic nanostructures that strongly confine the electromagnetic field, allowing exotic quantum regimes of light-matter interaction with disordered organic semiconductors. The unambiguous interpretation of the spectra of organic microcavities has been a long-standing challenge due to several competing effects involving electrons, vibrations and cavity photons. Here we present a theoretical framework that is able to describe the main spectroscopic features of organic microcavities consistently. We introduce a class of light-matter excitations called dark vibronic pola…
Exciton polaritons in semiconductor microcavities exhibit many fundamental physical effects, with some of them amenable to being controlled by external fields. The polariton transport is affected by the polaritonic spin-orbit interaction, which is caused by the splitting of transverse-electric and transverse-magnetic (TE-TM) modes. This is the basis for a polaritonic Hall effect, called optical spin Hall effect (OSHE), which is related to the formation of spin/polarization textures in momentum space, determining anisotropic ballistic transport, as well as related textures in real space. Owing …
Transport properties of exciton-polaritons in anisotropic quantum microcavities are considered theoretically. Microscopic symmetry of the structure is taken into account by allowing for both the longitudinal-transverse (TE-TM) and anisotropic splitting of polariton states. The splitting is equivalent to an effective magnetic field acting on polariton pseudospin, and polarization conversion in microcavities is shown to be caused by an interplay of exciton-polariton spin precession and elastic scattering. In addition, we considered the spin-dependent interference of polaritons leading to weak lo…
We observe condensation of exciton polaritons in quantum states composed of concentric rings when exciting cylindrical pillar GaAs/AlGaAs microcavities non-resonantly by a focused laser beam normally incident at the center of the pillar. The number of rings depends on the pumping intensity and the pillar size, and may achieve 5 in the pillar of 40 mkm diameter. Breaking the axial symmetry when moving the excitation spot away from the pillar center leads to transformation of the rings into a number of bright lobes corresponding to quantum states with nonzero angular momenta. The number of lobes…
A unique feature of exciton-polaritons, inherited from their mixed light-matter origin, is the strongly spin-dependent polariton-polariton interaction, which has been predicted to result in the formation of spin rings in real space [Shelykh et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 100, 116401 (2008)]. Here we experimentally demonstrate the spin bi-stability of exciton-polaritons in an InGaAs-based semiconductor microcavity under resonant optical pumping. We observe the formation of spin rings whose size can be finely controlled in a spatial scale down to the micrometer range, much smaller than the spot size. …
We consider the nonlinear terahertz emission by the system of cavity polaritons in the regime of polariton lasing. To account for the quantum nature of terahertz-polariton coupling we use the Lindblad master equation approach and demonstrate that quantum microcavities reveal rich variety of the nonlinear phenomena in terahertz range, including bistability, short THz pulse generation and THz switching.
Recent experiments in exciton-polariton systems have provided high-precision measurements of the value of the polariton-polariton interaction constant, which is a key parameter that governs the nonlinear dynamics of polariton condensates and potentially enables quantum correlated polaritons. Yet, until now, this parameter has only been addressed theoretically using perturbative treatments or approximations that do not include the composite nature of the excitons. Here, we use a recently developed microscopic description of polaritons involving electrons, holes, and photons, where the interacti…
We report on properties of an optical microcavity based on (Cd,Zn,Mg)Te layers and embedding (Cd,Zn)Te quantum wells. The key point of the structure design is the lattice matching of the whole structure to MgTe, which eliminates the internal strain and allows one to embed an arbitrary number of unstrained quantum wells in the microcavity. We evidence the strong light-matter coupling regime already for the structure containing a single quantum well. Embedding four unstrained quantum wells results in further enhancement of the exciton-photon coupling and the polariton lasing in the strong coupli…
Dark excitons are of fundamental importance for a wide variety of processes in semiconductors, but are difficult to investigate using optical techniques due to their weak interaction with light fields. We reveal and characterize dark excitons injected by non-resonant pulsed excitation in a semiconductor microcavity structure containing InGaAs/GaAs quantum wells by monitoring their interactions with the bright lower polariton mode. We find a surprisingly long dark exciton lifetime of more than 20 ns which is longer than the time delay between two consecutive pulses. This creates a memory effect…
Recently the possibility of generating nonclassical polariton states by means of parametric scattering has been demonstrated. Excitonic polaritons propagate in a complex interacting environment and contain real electronic excitations subject to scattering events and noise affecting quantum coherence and entanglement. Here we present a general theoretical framework for the realistic investigation of polariton quantum correlations in the presence of coherent and incoherent interaction processes. The proposed theoretical approach is based on the {\em nonequilibrium quantum Langevin approach for o…
We study the polarization dynamics of a spatially expanding polariton condensate under nonresonant linearly polarized optical excitation. The spatially and temporally resolved polariton emission reveals the formation of non-trivial spin textures in the form of a quadruplet polarization pattern both in the linear and circular Stokes parameters, and an octuplet in the diagonal Stokes parameter. The continuous rotation of the polariton pseudospin vector through the condensate due to TE-TM splitting exhibits an ordered pattern of half-skyrmions associated with a half-integer topological number. A …
We investigate the many-body states of exciton-polaritons that can be observed by pump-probe spectroscopy. Here, a weak-probe `spin-down' polariton is introduced into a coherent state of `spin-up' polaritons created by a strong pump. We show that the $\downarrow$ impurities become dressed by excitations of the $\uparrow$ medium, and form new polaronic quasiparticles that feature two-point and three-point many-body quantum correlations, which, in the low density regime, arise from coupling to the vacuum biexciton and triexciton states respectively. In particular, we find that these correlations…
Semiconductor microcavities operating in the polaritonic regime are highly non-linear, high speed systems due to the unique half-light, half-matter nature of polaritons. Here, we report for the first time the observation of propagating multi-soliton polariton patterns consisting of multi-peak structures either along (x) or perpendicular to (y) the direction of propagation. Soliton arrays of up to 5 solitons are observed, with the number of solitons controlled by the size or power of the triggering laser pulse. The break-up along the x direction occurs due to interplay of bistability, negative …
Layered materials can be assembled vertically to fabricate a new class of van der Waals (VDW) heterostructures a few atomic layers thick, compatible with a wide range of substrates and optoelectronic device geometries, enabling new strategies for control of light-matter coupling. Here, we incorporate molybdenum diselenide/boron nitride (MoSe$_2$/hBN) quantum wells (QWs) in a tunable optical microcavity. Part-light-part-matter polariton eigenstates are observed as a result of the strong coupling between MoSe$_2$ excitons and cavity photons, evidenced from a clear anticrossing between the neutra…
The transmission of a pump laser resonant with the lower polariton branch of a semiconductor microcavity is shown to be highly dependent on the degree of circular polarization of the pump. Spin dependent anisotropy of polariton-polariton interactions allows the internal polarization to be controlled by varying the pump power. The formation of spatial patterns, spin rings with high degree of circular polarization, arising as a result of polarization bistability, is observed. A phenomenological model based on spin dependent Gross-Pitaevskii equations provides a good description of the experiment…
Exciton-polaritons in semiconductor microcavities generate fascinating effects such as long-range spatial coherence and Bose-Einstein Condensation (BEC), which are attractive for their potential use in low threshold lasers, vortices and slowing light, etc. However, currently most of exciton-polariton effects either occur at cryogenic temperature or rely on expensive cavity fabrication procedures. Further exploring new semiconductor microcavities with stronger exciton photon interaction strength is extensively needed. Herein, we demonstrate room temperature photon exciton strong coupling in hyb…
We develop a microscopic description of an electron-doped two-dimensional semiconductor embedded in a microcavity. Specifically, we investigate the interactions between exciton-polaritons and electrons for the case where the interactions between charges are strongly screened and the system is spin polarized. As a starting point, we obtain an analytic expression for the exciton-polariton wave function, and we relate the microscopic parameters of the light-matter system to experimentally measurable quantities, such as the Rabi coupling and the cavity photon frequency. We then derive the polarito…
We investigate the interactions between exciton-polaritons in N two-dimensional semiconductor layers embedded in a planar microcavity. In the limit of low-energy scattering, where we can ignore the composite nature of the excitons, we obtain exact analytical expressions for the spin-triplet and spin-singlet interaction strengths, which go beyond the Born approximation employed in previous calculations. Crucially, we find that the strong light-matter coupling enhances the strength of polariton-polariton interactions compared to that of the exciton-exciton interactions, due to the Rabi coupling …
Here we report the fabrication and optical characterization of organic microcavities containing liquid-crystalline conjugated polymers (LCCPs): poly(9,9-dioctylfluorene-co-benzothiadiazole) (F8BT), poly(9,9-dioctylfluorene) (PFO) and poly(2,7-(9,9-dihexylfluorene)-co-bithiophene) (F6T2) aligned on top of a thin transparent Sulfuric Dye 1 (SD1) photoalignment layer. We extract the optical constants of the aligned films using variable angle spectroscopic ellipsometry and fabricate metallic microcavities in which the ultrastrong coupling regime is manifest both for the aligned and non-aligned LCC…
Coupled states of semiconductor quantum well (QW) excitons and photons in a two dimensional (2D) periodic lattice of microcavities are analyzed theoretically, revealing allowed bands and forbidden gaps in the energy spectrum of exciton polaritons. Photonic crystal exciton polaritons have spatially uniform excitonic constituent set by flat QWs, but exhibit periodic Bloch oscillations in the plane of QWs due to their photonic component. The envelope functions of photonic crystal exciton polaritons can be tailored via effective potential of a photonic crystal heterostructure, by using quasi-perio…
We compare polariton lasing with photon lasing of a planar GaAs/GaAlAs microcavity with zero detuning between the bare cavity mode and the bare exciton mode. For the emission from the lower energy-momentum dispersion branch we find a two-threshold behavior of the ground state in the input-output curve where each transition is accompanied by characteristic changes of the in-plane mode dispersion. In particular, we show that the thresholds are unambiguously evidenced in the photon statistics of the emission based on the second-order correlation function. Moreover, the distinct two-threshold beha…
We show that when following a simple cavity design metric, a quantum well exciton-microcavity photon coupling constant can be larger than the exciton binding energy in GaAs based optical microcavities. Such a very strong coupling significantly reduces the relative electron-hole motion and makes the polaritons robust against phonon collisions. The corresponding polariton dissociation and saturation boundaries on the phase diagram are much improved, and our calculations suggest the possibility of constructing a room temperature, high power exciton-polariton laser without resorting to wide bandga…
We present an overview of the advances in the physics of polaritons in semiconductor microcavities, starting from their first discovery in 1992. After summarizing the research during the early years, when the basic optical properties were investigated, we describe the important results related to the phenomenon of parametric polariton scattering, highlighting its link to non-classical polariton physics. We conclude with a perspective view of the future research in the domain, focusing on the exciting developments in the direction of polariton quantum collective phenomena and quantum nanodevice…
Polaritons in semiconductor microcavities can experience a Bose-Einstein condensation experimentally detectable in the spectrum of the emitted light. Scattering with noncondensed particles as well as self-interaction in the condensate provoke phase-diffusion limiting the coherence of the polariton condensate. We present a theoretical analysis of self-interaction effects on the lineshape of the emission from a polariton laser. Our calculations, for CdTe microcavities, show that there is an optimum pump at which the linewidth of the emitted light is reduced down to 1 $μ$ eV.
Observations of polariton condensation in semiconductor microcavities suggest that polaritons can be exploited as a novel type of laser with low input-power requirements. The low-excitation regime is approximately equivalent to thermal equilibrium, and a higher excitation results in more dominant nonequilibrium features. Although standard photon lasing has been experimentally observed in the high excitation regime, e-h pair binding can still remain even in the high-excitation regime theoretically. Therefore, the photoluminescence with a different photon lasing mechanism is predicted to be diff…
Propagating, directionally dependent, polarized spin-currents are created in an anisotropic planar semiconductor microcavity, via Rayleigh scattering of optically injected polaritons in the optical spin Hall regime. The influence of anisotropy results in the suppression or enhancement of the pseudospin precession of polaritons scattered into different directions. This is exploited to create intense spin currents by excitation on top of localized defects. A theoretical model considering the influence of the total effective magnetic field on the polariton pseudospin quantitatively reproduces the…
We propose theoretically an optical diode based on exciton-polaritons in semiconductor microcavities. A flow of polaritons in the bistable regime is used to send signals through an asymmetric fixed potential that favours the tunneling of particles in one direction. Through dynamic modelling of the coherent polariton field, we demonstrate the characteristics of an ideal diode, namely that the forward signal is fully transmitted while the transmission in the reverse direction tends to zero, without any additional external control. Moreover, the system proves to be robust to the presence of disor…
We present a detailed theoretical study of transverse exciton-polariton patterns in semiconductor quantum-well microcavities. These patterns are initiated by directional instabilities in the uniform pump-generated polariton field and are measured as optical patterns in a transverse plane in the far field. Based on a microscopic many-particle theory, we investigate the spatio-temporal dynamics of the formation, selection, and optical control of these patterns. An emphasis is placed on a previously proposed low-intensity, all-optical switching scheme designed to exploit these instability-driven …
