Microcavity polaritons are light-matter quasiparticles that arise from the strong coupling between excitons and photons confined in a semiconductor microcavity. They typically operate at visible or near visible wavelengths. They combine the properties of confined electromagnetic fields, including a sizeable spin-orbit coupling, and the sensitivity to external magnetic fields and particle interactions inherited from their partly matter nature. These features make polaritons an excellent platform to study topological phases in photonics in one and two dimensional lattices, which band properties can be directly accessed using standard optical tools. In this review we describe the main properties of microcavity polaritons and the main observations in the field of topological photonics, which include, among others, lasing in topological edge states, the implementation of a polariton Chern insulator under an external magnetic field and the direct measurement of fundamental quantities such as the quantum geometric tensor and winding numbers in one- and two-dimensional lattices. Polariton interactions open exciting perspectives for the study of nonlinear topological phases.
We present a microcavity structure with a shifted photonic stop-band to enable efficient non-resonant injection of a polariton condensate with spectrally broad femtosecond pulses. The concept is demonstrated theoretically and confirmed experimentally for a planar GaAs/AlGaAs multilayer heterostructure pumped with ultrashort near-infrared pulses while photoluminescence is collected to monitor the optically injected polariton density. As the excitation wavelength is scanned, a regime of polariton condensation can be reached in our structure at a consistently lower fluence threshold than in a sta…
Interactions of few-cycle terahertz pulses with the induced optical polarization in a quantum-well microcavity reveal that the lower and higher exciton-polariton modes together with the optically forbidden 2p-exciton state form a unique Λ-type three-level system. Pronounced nonlinearities are observed via time-resolved strong-terahertz and weak-optical excitation spectroscopy and explained with a fully microscopic theory. The results show that the terahertz pulses strongly couple the exciton-polariton states to the 2p-exciton state while no resonant transition between the two polariton levels …
The ultrafast scattering dynamics of intersubband polaritons in dispersive cavities embedding GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells are studied directly within their band structure using a non-collinear pump-probe geometry with phase-stable mid-infrared pulses. Selective excitation of the lower polariton at a frequency of ~25 THz and at a finite in-plane momentum, $k_{||}$, leads to the emergence of a narrowband maximum in the probe reflectivity at $k_{||}=0$. A quantum mechanical model identifies the underlying microscopic process as stimulated coherent polariton-polariton scattering. These results mark …
Exciton-polaritons have become an emerging platform for implementing non-Hermitian physics. The implementation commonly requires control of both the real and imaginary parts of the eigenmodes of the system. We present an experimental method to achieve this purpose using microcavities with sub-wavelength gratings as reflectors. The reflectivity and reflection phase of the grating can be changed by its geometric parameters and they determine the energy and linewidth of the polariton modes. We demonstrate that this method allows a wide range of possible polariton energy and linewidth, suitable fo…
Polariton lattice condensates provide a platform for on chip quantum emulations. Interactions in extended polariton lattices are currently limited by the intrinsic photonic disorder of microcavities. Here, we fabricate a strain compensated planar GaAs/AlAs microcavity with embedded InGaAs quantum wells and report on polariton condensation under non-resonant optical excitation. Evidence of polariton condensation is supported spectroscopically both in reflection and transmission geometry, whilst the observation of a second threshold to photon lasing allows us to conclusively distinguish between …
The first realization of a polariton condensate was recently achieved in a CdTe microcavity [Kasprzak et al., Nature 443, 409 (2006)]. We compare the experimental phase boundaries, for various detunings and cryostat temperatures, with those found theoretically from a model which accounts for features of microcavity polaritons such as reduced dimensionality, internal composite structure, disorder in the quantum wells, polariton-polariton interactions, and finite lifetime.
We study the propagation of a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) of long-lifetime exciton polaritons in a high-quality microcavity with an embedded semiconductor quantum well or a graphene layer using the Gross-Pitaevskii equation. It is shown that in these heterostructures the BEC of the long-lifetime polaritons can propagate over the distance up to 0.5 mm. The obtained results are consistent with the recent experimental observations for GaAs/AlGaAs microcavity. It is demonstrated that the BEC density in a polariton trace in a microcavity with embedded graphene at large distances from the excitat…
We present a microscopic theory for the description of the bias-controlled operation of an exciton-polariton-based heterostructure, in particular, the polariton laser. Combining together the Poisson equations for the scalar electric potential and Fermi quasi-energies of electrons and holes in a semiconductor heterostructure, the Boltzmann equation for the incoherent excitonic reservoir and the Gross-Pitaevskii equation for the exciton-polariton mean field, we simulate the dynamics of the system minimising the number of free parameters and for the first time build a theoretical threshold charac…
The spin Hall effect for polaritons (SHEP) in a transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDC) monolayer embedded in a microcavity is predicted. We demonstrate that two counterpropagating laser beams incident on a TMDC monolayer can deflect a superfluid polariton flow due to the generation the effective gauge vector and scalar potentials. The components of polariton conductivity tensor for both non-interacting polaritons without Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC)and for weakly-interacting Bose gas of polaritons in the presence of BEC and superfluidity are obtained. It is shown that the polariton flows …
We have developed a model of the nonlinear polariton dynamics in realistic 3D non-planar microcavity wires in the driven-dissipative regime. We find that the typical microcavity optical bistability evolves into multistability upon variation of the model parameters. The origin of the multistability is discussed in detail. We apply linear perturbation analysis to modulational instabilities, and identify conditions for localisation of composite multi-mode polariton solitons in the triggered parametric oscillator regime. Further, we demonstrate stable polariton soliton propagation in tilted and ta…
Integrated electro-optical switches are essential as one of the fundamental elements in the development of modern optoelectronics. As an architecture for photonic systems, exciton polaritons, that are hybrid bosonic quasiparticles that possess unique properties derived from both excitons and photons, have shown much promise. For this system, we demonstrate a significant improvement of emitted intensity and condensation threshold by applying an electric field to a microcavity filled with an organic microbelt. Our theoretical investigations indicate that the electric field makes the excitons dip…
We present a precise calculation of spatially-indirect exciton states in semiconductor coupled quantum wells and polaritons formed from their coupling to the optical mode of a microcavity. We include the presence of electric and magnetic fields applied perpendicular to the quantum well plane. Our model predicts the existence of polaritons which are in the strong coupling regime and at the same time possess a large static dipole moment. We demonstrate, in particular, that a magnetic field can compensate for the reduction in light-matter coupling that occurs when an electric field impresses a di…
Polariton spin carries the combination of the exciton and the photon spin, which is manifested in the circularly polarized emission degree in a III-V quantum wells microcavity system. Relaxation process of such spin system is a complex subject since it involve upper or lower polariton branch, resonant or non resonant polariton excitation process and if the particles are in strong or weak coupling regime. We present here experimental polariton spin Faraday rotation time measurement in GaAs single quantum well microcavity, using time resolved polariton photoluminescence by resonant excitation pr…
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…
Electrically reconfigurable dipolar polaritons with highly tunable nonlinearity in a homobilayer microcavity
Tsinghua University（清华大学）；University of Washington（华盛顿大学）；Beijing Academy of Quantum Information Sciences（北京量子信息科学研究院）；National Institute for Materials Science（国立材料研究所）；Nanyang Technological University（南洋理工大学）；Frontier Science Center for Quantum Information（量子信息前沿科学中心）
We present a comprehensive theoretical description of quantum well exciton-polaritons imbedded in a planar semiconductor microcavity. The exact non-local dielectric response of the quantum well exciton is treated in detail. The 4-spinor structure of the hole subband in the quantum well is considered, including the pronounced band mixing effect. The scheme is self-contained and can be used to treat different semiclassical aspects of the microcavity properties. As an example, we analyze the "selection" rules for the exciton-cavity mode coupling for different excitons.
Periodic incorporation of quantum wells inside a one--dimensional Bragg structure is shown to enhance coherent coupling of excitons to the electromagnetic Bloch waves. We demonstrate strong coupling of quantum well excitons to photonic crystal Bragg modes at the edge of the photonic bandgap, which gives rise to mixed Bragg polariton eigenstates. The resulting Bragg polariton branches are in good agreement with the theory and allow demonstration of Bragg polariton parametric amplification.
We are interested in the emission characteristics of an atom interacting with the polaritonic excitations of a semiconductor or insulator embedded in a one-mode cavity. Since polaritons inside of the cavity exhibit intrinsic squeezing, we discuss how the squeezed polariton ground state modifies the atomic emission and how an indirect evidence of polariton squeezing outside of he cavity may be obtained.
The role of polariton-electron scattering on the performance characteristics of an electrically injected GaAs-based quantum well microcavity diode in the strong coupling regime has been investigated. An electron gas is introduced in the quantum wells by modulation doping with silicon dopants. It is observed that polariton-electron scattering suppresses the relaxation bottleneck in the lower polariton branch. However, it is not adequate to produce a degenerate coherent condensate at k|| ~ 0 and coherent emission.
The spectral and dispersive emission properties are analytically determined for the two-dimensional system of exciton-polaritons in microcavities excited by a resonant and coherent optical pump. New collective excitations result from the anomalous coupling between one generic polariton state and its idler, created by the scattering of two pumped polaritons. The corresponding parametric correlation is stimulated by the emitter and idler populations and drives very efficiently the luminescence. The intrinsic properties of the collective excitations determine a peculiar emission pattern.
We describe exciton-polariton modes formed by the interaction between excitons in a 2D layer of a transition metal dichalcogenide embedded in a cylindrical microcavity and the microcavity photons. For this, an expression for the excitonic susceptibility of a semiconductor disk placed in the symmetry plane perpendicular to the axis of the microcavity is derived. Semiclassical theory provides dispersion relations for the polariton modes, while the quantum-mechanical treatment of a simplified model yields the Hopfield coefficients, measuring the degree of exciton-photon mixing in the coupled mode…
We show that, by monitoring the free carrier reservoir in a GaAs-based quantum well microcavity under nonresonant pulsed optical pumping, lasing supported by a fermionic reservoir (photon lasing) can be distinguished from lasing supported by a reservoir of bosons (polariton lasing). Carrier densities are probed by measuring the photocurrent between lateral contacts deposited directly on the quantum wells of a microcavity that are partially exposed by wet chemical etching. We identify two clear thresholds in the input-output characteristic of the photoluminescence signal which can be attributed…
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…
The Hartree-Fock-Popov theory of interacting Bose particles is developed, for modeling exciton-polaritons in semiconductor microcavities undergoing Bose-Einstein condensation. A self-consistent treatment of the linear exciton-photon coupling and of the exciton non-linearity provides a thermal equilibrium description of the collective excitation spectrum, of the polariton energy shifts and of the phase diagram. Quantitative predictions support recent experimental findings.
We study the time dependent polariton condensation as well as the parametric scattering process of polaritons in a semiconductor microcavity. Based upon a new stochastic scheme the dynamics for both cases is fully analyzed. We show how the evolution of the system is described by a set of stochastic differential Schrodinger equations which in average reproduces the exact dynamics. Furthermore, we underline the role that Coulomb correlations plays in the polariton dynamics. Threshold behaviors are well captured by the present approach. The results are in complete agreement with recent experiment…
We report the first observation of stochastic resonance in confined exciton-polaritons. We evidence this phenomena by tracking the polaritons behavior through two stochastic resonance quantifiers namely the spectral magnification factor and the signal-to-noise ratio. The evolution of the stochastic resonance in function of the modulation amplitude of the periodic excitation signal is studied. Our experimental observations are well reproduced by numerical simulations performed in the framework of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation under stochastic perturbation.
We consider the possible phases of microcavity polaritons tuned near a bipolariton Feshbach resonance. We show that, as well as the regular polariton superfluid phase, a "molecular" superfluid exists, with (quasi-)long-range order only for pairs of polaritons. We describe the experimental signatures of this state. Using variational approaches we find the phase diagram (critical temperature, density and exciton-photon detuning). Unlike ultracold atoms, the molecular superfluid is not inherently unstable, and our phase diagram suggests it is attainable in current experiments.
The CW microcavity optical parametric oscillator (OPO) state is investigated using a theoretical treatment which includes the contributions of the pump, signal and idler populations to the renormalisation of the polariton energies (the `blue-shift'). The theory predicts the pumping conditions under which the OPO switches on, showing that a pump angle > 10 degrees is required, but there is no particular significance to the `magic-angle' where pump, signal and idler are all on resonance. The signal and idler renormalisation contributions also causes the signal emission to be driven towards the n…
We present a systematic investigation of two-photon excitation processes in a GaAs-based microcavity in the strong-coupling regime. We observe second harmonic generation resonant to the upper and lower polariton level, which exhibits a strong dependence on the photonic fraction of the corresponding polariton. In addition we have performed two-photon excitation spectroscopy to identify $2p$ exciton states which are crucial for the operation as a terahertz lasing device, which was suggested recently [A. V. Kavokin et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. \textbf{108}, 197401 (2012)]. However, no distinct signat…
We study the polarization optical properties of microcavities with embedded (110)-oriented quantum wells. The spin dynamics of exciton polaritons in such structures is governed by the interplay of the spin-orbit splitting of exciton states, which is odd in the in-plane momentum, and the longitudinal-transverse splitting of cavity modes, which is even in the momentum. We demonstrate the generation of polariton spin currents by linearly polarized optical pump and analyze the arising polariton spin textures in the cavity plane. Tuning the excitation spot size, which controls the polariton distrib…
We predict the formation and superfluidity of polaritons in an optical microcavity formed by excitons in gapped graphene embedded there and microcavity photons. The Rabi splitting related to the creation of an exciton in a graphene layer in the presence of the band gap is obtained. The analysis of collective excitations as well as the sound velocity is presented. We show that the superfluid density and temperature of the Kosterlitz-Thouless phase transition are decreasing functions of the energy gap.
We have performed real and momentum space spin-dependent spectroscopy of spontaneously formed exciton polariton condensates for a non-resonant pumping scheme. Under linearly polarized pump, our results can be understood in terms of spin-dependent Boltzmann equations in a two-state model. This suggests that relaxation into the ground state occurs after multiple phonon scattering events and only one polariton-polariton scattering. For the circular pumping case, in which only excitons of one spin are injected, a bottleneck effect is observed, implying inefficient relaxation.
The theory of the drag effects in the system of spatially separated electrons and excitons in coupled quantum wells (QW) embedded in an optical microcavity is developed. It is shown that at low temperature an electron current induces the (normal component) polariton flow, therefore, a transport of photons along the cavity. However, the electron current dragged by the polariton flow is strongly suppressed below polariton superfluid transition temperature and hence, the strong suppression of the induced electron current indicates the superfluidity of polaritons. Therefore, the transport properti…
We detail the influence of a magnetic field on exciton-polaritons inside a semiconductor microcavity. Magnetic field can be used as a tuning parameter for exciton and photon resonances. We discuss the change of the exciton energy, the oscillator strength and redistribution of the polariton density along the dispersion curves due to the magnetically-induced detuning. We have observed that field-induced shrinkage of the exciton wave function has a direct influence not only on the exciton oscillator strength, which is observed to increase with the magnetic field, but also on the polariton linewid…
Entanglement generation in microcavity exciton-polaritons is an interesting application of the peculiar properties of these half-light/half-matter quasiparticles. In this paper we theoretically investigate their luminescence dynamics and entanglement formation in single, double, and triple cavities. We derive general expressions and selection rules for polariton-polariton scattering. We evaluate a number of possible parametric scattering schemes in terms of entanglement, and identify the ones that are experimentally most promising.
We study tunable polaritons in monolayers of silicene, germanene, and stanene (Xenes) via an external electric field in an open optical microcavity whose length can be adjusted. An external electric field applied perpendicular to the plane of the Xene monolayer simultaneously changes the band gap and the exciton binding energy, while the variable length of the open microcavity allows one to keep the exciton and cavity photon modes in resonance. First, the Schrödinger equation for an electron and hole in an Xene monolayer is solved, yielding the eigenergies and eigenfunctions of the exciton as …
The dynamics of the expansion of the first order spatial coherence g(1) for a polariton system in a high-Q GaAs microcavity was investigated on the basis of Young's double slit experiment under 3 ps pulse excitation at the conditions of polariton Bose-Einstein condensation. It was found that in the process of condensate formation the coherence expands with a constant velocity of about 10^8 cm/s. The measured coherence is smaller than that in thermally equilibrium system during the growth of condensate density and well exceeds it at the end of condensate decay. The onset of spatial coherence is…
Terahertz emission between exciton-polariton branches in semiconductor microcavities is expected to be strongly stimulated in the polariton laser regime, due to the high density of particles in the lower state (final state stimulation effect). However, non-radiative scattering processes depopulate the upper state and greatly hinder the efficiency of such terahertz sources. In this work, we suggest a new scheme using multiple microcavities and exploiting the transition between two interband polariton branches located below the exciton level. We compare the non-radiative processes loss rates in …
We present an experiment that probes polariton quantum correlations by exploiting quantum complementarity. Specifically, we find that polaritons in two distinct idler-modes interfere if and only if they share the same signal-mode so that "which-way" information cannot be gathered. The experimental results prove the existence of polariton pair correlations that store the "which-way" information. This interpretation is confirmed by a theoretical analysis of the measured interference visibility in terms of quantum Langevin equations.
We report an extended family of spin textures in coexisting modes of zero-dimensional polariton condensates spatially confined in tunable open microcavity structures. The coupling between photon spin and angular momentum, which is enhanced in the open cavity structures, leads to new eigenstates of the polariton condensates carrying quantised spin vortices. Depending on the strength and anisotropy of the cavity confinement potential and the strength of the spin-orbit coupling, which can be tuned via the excitonic/photonic fractions, the condensate emissions exhibit either spin-vortex-like patte…
Monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides, known for exhibiting strong excitonic resonances, constitute a very interesting and versatile platform for investigation of light-matter interactions. In this work we report on a strong coupling regime between excitons in monolayer WSe2 and photons confined in an open, voltage-tunable dielectric microcavity. The tunability of our system allows us to extend the exciton-polariton state over a wide energy range and, in particular, to bring the excitonic component of the lower polariton mode into resonance with other excitonic transitions in monolayer WS…
We investigate the statistics of microcavity polariton Bose-Einstein condensation by measuring photoluminescence dynamics from a GaAs microcavity excited by single laser excitation pulses. We directly observe fluctuations (jitter) of the polariton condensation onset time and model them using a master equation for the occupancy probabilities. The jitter of the condensation onset time is an inherent property of the condensate formation and its magnitude is approximately equal to the rise time of the condensate density. We investigate temporal correlations between the emission of condensate in op…
A method of determining the temperature of the nonradiative reservoir in a microcavity exciton-polariton system is developed. A general relation for the homogeneous polariton linewidth is theoretically derived and experimentally used in the method. In experiments with a GaAs microcavity under nonresonant pulsed excitation, the reservoir temperature dynamics is extracted from the polariton linewidth. Within the first nanosecond the reservoir temperature greatly exceeds the lattice temperature and determines the dynamics of the major processes in the system. It is shown that, for nonresonant pul…
We present experimental observations of a non-resonant dynamic Stark shift in strongly coupled microcavity quantum well exciton-polaritons - a system which provides a rich variety of solid-state collective phenomena. The Stark effect is demonstrated in a GaAs/AlGaAs system at 10K by femtosecond pump-probe measurements, with the blue shift approaching the meV scale for a pump fluence of 2 mJcm^-2 and 50 meV red detuning, in good agreement with theory. The energy level structure of the strongly coupled polariton Rabi-doublet remains unaffected by the blue shift. The demonstrated effect should al…
By considering driven diffusive dynamics of exciton polaritons in an optical microcavity with an embedded molybdenum disulfide monolayer, we determine experimentally relevant range of parameters at which room-temperature superfuidity can be observed. It is shown that the superfluid transitions occurs in a trapped polariton gas at laser pumping power $P>600$ mW and and trapping potential strength $k > 50$ eV/cm$^2$. We also propose a simple analytic model that provides a useful estimate for the polariton gas density, which enables one to determine the conditions for observation of room temperat…
The theory of the linear optical response of excitons in quantum wells and polaritons in planar semiconductor microcavities is reviewed, in the light of the existing experiments. For quantum well excitons, it is shown that disorder mainly affects the exciton center-of-mass motion and is modeled by an effective Schroedinger equation in two dimensions. For polaritons, a unified model accounting for quantum well roughness and fluctuations of the microcavity thickness is developed. Numerical results confirm that polaritons are mostly affected by disorder acting on the photon component, thus confir…
The artificial gauge field for electrically neutral exciton polaritons devoid from the polarization degree of freedom can be synthesized by means of applying crossed electric and magnetic fields. The appearance of the gauge potential can be ascribed to the motional (magneto-electric) Stark effect which is responsible for the presence of a linear-in-momentum contribution to the exciton kinetic energy. We study the interplay of this phenomenon with the competing effect which arises from the Rabi-splitting renormalization due the reduction of the electron-hole overlap for a moving exciton. Accoun…
The formation and propagation of a polariton condensate under tightly focused excitation is investigated in a ZnO microcavity both experimentally and theoretically. 2D near-field and far-field images of the condensate are measured under quasi-continuous non-resonant excitation. The corresponding spatial profiles are compared to a model based on the Gross-Pitaevskii equation under cylindrical geometry. This work allows to connect the experiments performed with a small excitation laser spot and the previous kinetic models of condensation in a 2D infinite microcavity, and to determine the relevan…
We present a theoretical model that allows us to describe the dynamics of exciton polaritons in the strong-coupling regime in a monolayer WS2 based semiconductor microcavity. Numerical simulations using Boltzmann equations give an overall description of polariton kinetics over a temperature range of 130-230K, under nonresonant excitation. Here, only the scattering rate via optical phonons (LO) from the upper (UP) towards lower (LP) polariton branches is considered. According this model we show the importance of the radiative lifetime of the polaritonic states relative to polariton relaxation r…
We present an experimental study on the ignition and decay of a polariton optical parametric oscillator (OPO) in a semiconductor microcavity pillar. The combination of a continuous wave laser pump, under quasi-phase matching conditions, and a non-resonant, 2 ps-long pulse probe allows us to obtain the full dynamics of the system. The arrival of the probe induces a blue-shift in the polariton emission, bringing the OPO process into resonance with the pump, which triggers the OPO-process. We time-resolve the polariton OPO signal emission for more than 1 nanosecond in both real and momentum-space…
We propose and analyze theoretically a resonant acousto-optic Stark effect for microcavity (MC) polaritons parametrically driven by a surface acoustic wave. For GaAs-based microcavities our scheme ``acoustic pumping - optical probing'' deals with surface acoustic waves of frequency $ν_{\rm SAW} \simeq 0.5 - 3$ GHz and intensity $I_{\rm SAW} \simeq 0.1 - 10$ mW/mm. The acoustically-induced stop gaps in the MC polariton spectrum drastically change the optical response of MC polaritons. Because an acoustically pumped intrinsic semiconductor microcavity remains in its ground electronic state, no m…
We develop a kinetic theory of microcavity polaritons in presence of both Coulomb and polariton-phonon interaction, obeying particle number conservation. We study the growth of a macroscopic population of condensed particles in the lowest polariton state, under steady-state incoherent excitation of higher energy states. The collective excitation spectrum, resulting from the Coulomb Hamiltonian treated within the Hartree-Fock-Bogolubov framework, strongly influences the polariton condensation kinetics. In particular, for values of the excitation intensity above the condensation threshold, scatt…
We report direct observation of the strong exciton-photon coupling in ZnO tapered whispering gallery (WG) microcavity at room temperature. By scanning excitations along the tapered arm of ZnO tetrapod using micro-photoluminescence spectrometer with different polarizations, we observed a transition from the pure WG optical modes in the weak interaction regime to the excitonic polariton in the strong coupling regime. The experimental observations are well described by using the plane wave model including excitonic polariton dispersion relation. This provides a direct mapping of the polariton dis…
We report an experimental study of superfluid hydrodynamic effects in a one-dimensional polariton fluid flowing along a laterally patterned semiconductor microcavity and hitting a micron-sized engineered defect. At high excitation power, superfluid propagation effects are observed in the polariton dynamics, in particular, a sharp acoustic horizon is formed at the defect position, separating regions of sub- and super-sonic flow. Our experimental findings are quantitatively reproduced by theoretical calculations based on a generalized Gross-Pitaevskii equation. Promising perspectives to observe …
Condensation of microcavity polaritons and the substantial influence of pair-breaking disorder and decoherence leading to a laser regime has been recently considered using two different models: a model for direct two band excitons in a disordered quantum well coupled to light and a model where the cavity mode couples instead to a medium of localised excitons, represented by two-level oscillators in the presence of dephasing processes. Even if complementary from the point of view of assumptions, the models share most of the main conclusions and show similar phase diagrams. The issue whether exc…
