Optical properties of microcavity polaritons

This work contains a theoretical analysis of the optical properties of semiconductor quantum wells embedded in planar Fabry-Perot microcavities. In particular, the properties of the system in correspondence to the excitonic transition are studied by means of the polariton formalism. The polariton states in microcavities are derived and the polar-iton dispersion is presented. Particular emphasis is put on the existence of two well distinct regimes depending on the exciton and cavity parameters: strong coupling and weak coupling regime. The main experimental results are reviewed and compared with the prediction of the theory. After the polariton states have been characterized, the optical response of the system is discussed, with particular attention to the photoluminescence measurements. The polariton formation and relaxation through phonon scattering and the effect of the exciton inhomogeneous broadening are considered and, finally, a phe-nomenological model for the polariton photoluminescence spectra is presented.     

Optical study of bulk ZnO for strong coupling observation in ZnO-based microcavities

We report an experimental study of the excitonic properties of bulk ZnO and the strong coupling observation in hybrid ZnO-based microcavities. The strong coupling is highlighted with a Rabi splitting value of about 70 meV. The influence of the excitonic and band-to-band absorptions on the observation of this strong light-matter coupling regime is analysed through the evolution of the reflectivity spectra obtained on microcavities with different active layer thicknesses.     

Exciton warming in III–V semiconductors and microcavities

We present a time resolved experiment in which we dynamically tailor the occupation and temperature of a photogenerated exciton distribution in QWs by excitation with two delayed picosecond pulses. The modification of the excitonic distribution results in ultrafast changes in the PL dynamics. Our experimental results are well accounted by a quasiequilibrium thermodynamical model, which includes the occupation and momentum distribution of the excitons. We use this model and the two-pulse experimental technique to study the polariton dynamics in InGaAs-based microcavities in the strong coupling regime. In particular, we demonstrate that resonantly injected upper polaritons mainly relax to the lower polariton branch via scattering to large momentum polariton states, producing the warming of the polariton reservoir.     

Suppression of radiative losses of surface polaritons on nanostructured thin metal films

The strong electromagnetic coupling between surface plasmon polariton modes on opposite interfaces of a finite thickness periodically nanostructured metal film has been studied. Surface polariton dispersion and associated electromagnetic field distributions have been analyzed. It was shown that at a frequency that corresponds to the crossing of film Bloch modes of different symmetries, the radiative losses of surface polaritons that are related to the polaritons' coupling to light during propagation on the structured surface are suppressed.     

Phonon-induced polariton superlattices

We show that the coherent interaction between microcavity polaritons and externally stimulated acoustic phonons forms a tunable polariton superlattice with a folded energy dispersion determined by the phonon population and wavelength. Under high phonon concentration, the strong confinement of the optical and excitonic polariton components in the phonon potential creates weakly coupled polariton wires with a virtually flat energy dispersion.     

The Investigation of Plasmon-Longitudinal Optical Phonon Coupling and Surface Polariton Modes in Donor Doped GaAs-Al0.33Ga0.67As Multi Quantum Wells

Infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy has been used to investigate phonon, plasmon, surface polariton and plasma-longitudinal optical phonon coupling in highly donor doped multi quantum wells (GaAs/Al_0.33Ga_0.67As) and direct band gap n- type Al_XGa_1-XAs thin layer on GaAs substrate. Using different samples with different concentration of free carriers. The dispersion equation of coupling modes have been calculated by using the condition which the dielectric functions of samples are zero for longitudinal coupled modes and experimental papameters which have been obtained from the best fit p-polarized oblique incidence far infrared reflection spectra. In MQW samples, the free carriers confined to the well and carriers are quasi two dimensional. So, plasmon- LO phonon coupling occur in the well (GaAs). In n- type Al_XGa_1-XAs thin layer, the coupled modes consist of three branches of the high, intermediate and low frequency modes. Their frequencies depend on both concentration and alloy composition. To analyses the surface polariton modes we carry out attenuated total reflection (ATR) measurements. In order to support our assignment the magnetic field profiles and surface polariton dispersion curves have been calculated.     

Polariton-polariton kinematic interaction modulation and kinematic bipolaritons in organic microcavities

We study polariton-polariton kinematic interactions in organic microcavities. Using the Agranovich-Toshich transformation, to transform the Frenkel excitons from Paulions into Bosons, the exciton-exciton kinematic interaction is derived. In the strong coupling regime, the polariton excitonic part results in the polariton-polariton kinematic interaction. The scattering amplitude is calculated and the effective potential is obtained for a scattering between two free polaritons. The effective potential can be modulated by changing the exciton-cavity photon detuning, and we show the crossover of the effective potential from attractive into repulsive one. A pole in the two-particle Green's function is the signature of the formation of polariton bound state, i.e. bipolariton. Due to the smallness of the polariton effective mass, the obtained bound state is very shallow and appears below the minimum of the lower polariton branch, and falls inside the natural bandwidth of the polariton branch.     

Josephson dynamics for coupled polariton modes under the atom–field interaction in the cavity

We consider a new approach to the problem of Bose–Einstein condensation (BEC) of polaritons for atom–field interaction under the strong coupling regime in the cavity. We investigate the dynamics of two macroscopically populated polariton modes corresponding to the upper and lower branch energy states coupled via Kerr-like nonlinearity of atomic medium. We found out the dispersion relations for new type of collective excitations in the system under consideration. Various temporal regimes like linear (nonlinear) Josephson transition and/or Rabi oscillations, macroscopic quantum self-trapping (MQST) dynamics for population imbalance of polariton modes are predicted. We also examine the switching properties for time-averaged population imbalance depending on initial conditions, effective nonlinear parameter of atomic medium and kinetic energy of low-branch polaritons. PACS 03.75.Lm; 71.36.+c; 42.50.Fx     

Influence of optical confinement and excitonic absorption on strong coupling in a bulk GaN microcavity grown on silicon

We report the optical study of a lambda-thick GaN microcavity grown by molecular beam epitaxy on a silicon substrate. Angle-resolved reflectivity measurements evidence the strong coupling regime at room temperature on the half cavity (without the top mirror), but at low temperature, the high excitonic absorption quenches the optical cavity mode at the excitonic energies. On the whole microcavity, the improved quality factor leads to the observation of the polariton emission whatever the temperature. No bottleneck is observed at 70 K even at low pumping power and large negative detuning. The impact of the optical confinement and the excitonic absorption, studied through reflectivity measurements are accurately reproduced by the transfer-matrix formalism. The optimization of the design in this structure leads to a large Rabi splitting (52 meV) at room temperature.     

The dispersion curves of the excitonic polariton and the excitonic molecule in CdS and their interaction

By means of the two-photon Raman scattering (TPRS) process we investigate the dispersion relation of the excitonic polariton in the energetic regions around the A-exciton resonance and near half the bi-exciton energy in CdS. In a high resolution experiment an anomaly is observed due to two-polariton transitions to the excitonic molecule (biexciton) state. This anomaly is explained on the basis of a previously developed theory of the intensity dependent dielectric function. Excitation spectroscopy of the TPRS-lines yields information about the damping of the excitonic molecule. Luminescence assisted two polariton spectroscopy (LATS) experiments are performed to determine the eigenenergy of the biexciton as well as its dispersion curve.     

Temperature dependence of excitonic luminescence from nanocrystalline ZnO films

The properties of the excitonic luminescence for nanocrystalline ZnO thin films are investigated by using the dependence of excitonic photoluminescence (PL) spectra on temperature. The ZnO thin films are prepared by thermal oxidation of ZnS films prepared by low-pressure metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (LP-MOCVD) technique. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) indicates that ZnO thin films have a polycrystalline hexagonal wurtzite structure with a preferred (0 0 2) orientation. A strong ultraviolet (UV) emission peak at 3.26 eV is observed, while the deep-level emission band is barely observable at room temperature. The strength of the exciton-longitudinal-optical (LO) phonon coupling is deduced from the temperature dependence of the full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) of the fundamental excitonic peak, decrease in exciton-longitudinal-optical (LO) phonon coupling strength is due to the quantum confinement effect.     

Polariton theory of the scattering of light beams in semiconductors

A microscopic theory is represented of the scattering of the excitonic polariton on the excitonic polariton in semiconductors with direct band gaps. All possible scattering mechanisms were taken into account. In the calculations the second quantization method was used in an effective manner. The general results were applied to the case of the single exciton level in CdS. The contributions from different scattering mechanisms were compared.     

Phase sensitive spectroscopy of the polariton modes in a ZnSe-ZnSxSe1−x heterostructure

Applying the method of spectral interferometry we investigate the phase of reflected light at a ZnSe-ZnS_xSe_1−x heterostructure. We find a series of polariton modes propagating through the ZnSe layer. They can be related to the different polariton branches split of at the heavy- and light-hole excitons. The phase shows pronounced changes around these modes. The strongest changes by 2π appear at the modes of lowest order located weakly above the exciton resonances, while they are smaller for higher modes. Our experimental findings can be explained considering spatial dispersion, Pekar's additional boundary conditions and a weak extension of the excitonic polarization into the ZnS_xSe_1−x cladding layers.     

Excitonic polaron and phonon assisted photoluminescence of ZnO nanowires

The coupling strength of the radiative transition of hexagonal ZnO nanowires to the longitudinal optic (LO) phonon polarization field is deduced from temperature dependent photoluminescence spectra. An excitonic polaron formation is discussed to explain why the interaction of free excitons with LO phonons in ZnO nanowires is much stronger than that of bound excitons with LO phonons. The strong exciton-phonon coupling in ZnO nanowires affects not only the Haung-Ray S factor but also the FXA-1LO phonon energy spacing, which can be explained by the excitonic polaron formation.     

Strong light‐matter coupling between a molecular vibrational mode in a PMMA film and a low‐loss mid‐IR microcavity

Microcavity devices exhibiting strong light‐matter coupling in the mid‐infrared spectral range offer the potential to explore exciting open physical questions pertaining to energy transfer between heat and light and can lead to a new generation of efficient wavelength tunable mid‐infrared sources of coherent light based on polariton Bose‐Einstein Condensation. Vibrational transitions of organic molecules, which often have strong absorption peaks in the infrared and considerably narrower linewidths than organic excitonic resonances, can generate polaritonic states in the mid‐infrared spectral range using microcavity devices. Here, narrow linewidth polaritonic resonances are exhibited in the mid‐infrared by coupling the carbonyl stretch vibrational transition of a polymethyl methacrylate film to the photonic resonance of a low optical‐loss mid‐infrared microcavity, which consisted of two Ge/ZnS dielectric Bragg reflectors. Rabi‐splitting of 14.3 meV is observed, with a 4.4 meV polariton linewidth at anti‐crossing. The large Rabi‐splitting relative to linewidth indicates efficient impedance‐matching between the bare vibrational and photonic states, and suggests molecular‐vibration polaritons incorporated in dielectric microcavities can be an enabling step towards realizing polariton optical switching and polariton condensation in the mid‐infrared spectral range.     

Influence of disorder on microcavity polariton linewidths

Polariton linewidths have been measured in a series of microcavities with different excitonic and cavity inhomogeneous broadening in the weak-disorder regime. We show experimentally that the behaviour of the polariton linewidths as a function of the detuning depends on the asymmetric line shape of an inhomogeneously broadened exciton line and particularly the disorder effect can be modulated and cancelled around resonance. When the disorder contribution is minimal, the behaviour of the cavity polariton linewidths tends to one of the homogeneous broadening system.     

Thermoplasma polariton within scaling theory of single-layer graphene

The electrodynamics of single-layer graphene is studied in the scaling regime. At any finite temperature, there is a weakly damped collective thermoplasma polariton mode whose dispersion and wavelength-dependent damping is determined analytically. The electric and magnetic fields associated with this mode decay exponentially in the direction perpendicular to the graphene layer, but, unlike the surface plasma polariton modes of metals, the decay length and the mode frequency are strongly temperature-dependent. This may lead to new ways of generation and manipulation of these modes.     

Polariton parametric amplifier pump dynamics in the coherent regime

We studied the pump coherent dynamics in a II-VI microcavity parametric amplifier, using angle-resolved four-wave mixing. The polariton parametric amplification is found to result in a strong quenching and saturation of the pump coherence lifetime above the threshold. For the polariton scattering processes that remain below the amplification threshold, we find an angle-dependent collision broadening associated with the efficiency of the polariton scattering towards the excitonic reservoir.     

半导体微腔中腔模、重空穴激子模和轻空穴激子模耦合

采用传输矩阵方法利用半经典的线性色散模型,计算半导体微腔内同时存在重空穴激子、轻空穴激子时,在不同入射角度下的反射谱,同时,利用三简谐振子耦合模型计算了在不同入射角度下,腔模同时和重空穴激子模、轻空穴激子模耦合所形成的三支腔极化激元的能量,以及腔模、重空穴激子模、轻空穴激子模分别在三支腔极化激元中所占的权重,结果表明随着入射角的增加腔极化激元的高能支和两个低能支之间存在明显的反交叉现象,同时,腔模和重空穴激子模、轻空穴激子模在腔极化激元中所占的权重呈现增加或减小的趋势 关键词： 半导体微腔 腔极化激元 激子     

Generation of Raman polaritons in three-level atomic media

A theory of formation of Stokes field (Raman) polaritons, which arise due to the coherent stimulated Raman scattering of light in an ensemble of three-level atoms placed in a Fabry-Perot cavity in the case of a strong coupling regime, is developed. The dispersion and absorption properties of Raman polaritons are investigated and the conditions for polariton amplification are found. It is shown that for certain pump power values, nonclassical correlations (entanglement) between light and dark polaritons are observed in the system.