Optical properties of excitons in semiconductor superlattices and microcavities

The optical response of Mott–Wannier excitons is investigated in semiconductor superlattices and microcavities. p-Polarized light is considered to calculate the reflectivity R_pand dispersion relation of the collective normal modes in superlattices accounting for extrinsic Morse potential wells, andR_p in microcavities. Results of R_pexhibit well-defined peaks of the exciton bound states in the Morse potentials for both transverse and longitudinal modes. Comparisons ofR_p with experimental reflectivity data of light for semiconductor microcavities exhibit good qualitative agreement as well as Rabi splitting.     

Polaritons in semiconductor/insulator superlattices with nonlocal excitonic response

We report a polariton mode structure calculations based on nonlocal model for semiconductor/insulator superlattices. The reflection spectra and the spatial distributions of intrinsic electric fields near polariton resonance are presented. We show that near the polariton resonance the electric component of polariton mode changes drastically and depends strongly upon the quantum confined exciton wavefunctions.     

Visible light emission from Si/SiO2 superlattices in optical microcavities

Bright quantum confined luminescence due to band-to-band recombination can be obtained from Si/SiO₂ superlattices. Placing them in a one-dimensional optical microcavity results in a pronounced modulation of the photoluminescence (PL) intensity with emission wavelength, as a consequence of the standing wave set up between the substrate and top interfaces. For a Si substrate, absorption of light reduces the PL efficiency, but for an Al-coated glass substrate the PL intensity is twice that of a quartz substrate case. The addition of a broad-band high reflector to the superlattice surface results in enhanced narrow-band emission. These results show that a suitably designed planar microcavity can not only considerably increase the external efficiency of luminescence in Si/SiO₂ superlattices but can also be used to decrease the bandwidth and selectively tune the peak wavelength.     

Polaritons in anisotropic semiconductors

We show how to compute the optical properties (reflection and absorption) of anisotropic semiconductors in the exciton energy region, taking into account polariton and electron-hole coherence effects. The method is applied to a GaAs/Ga_1–x Al _x As superlattice, and the modifications in the optical properties with respect to GaAs are related to the anisotropy.     

Polaritons in confined systems

Polaritons in confined systems are introduced and their dispersion is calculated. The amount of squeezing of confined excitons-polaritons in GaAs quantum wells is evaluated.     

Polaritons in β-AgI

The room temperature polariton data of β-AgI fits to dispersion curves of three oscillators rather than a single oscillator. This is also true for the LST relation. These results are not compatible with the various explanations suggested earlier for the extra modes observed in β-AgI. Another explanation assuming Ag⁺ at off center positions is suggested.     

Porous-silicon microcavities

Summary The properties and preliminar applications of porous-silicon (p-Si) microcavities are here reported. These structures are based on a planar resonator formed by two narrow-band high-reflectance distributed Bragg reflectors separated by a thin active optical layer, all of which are made of p-Si layers. The accurate control of the electrochemical dissolution of Si lets us realize p-Si multilayers with the desired refractive indices sequence. Large improvements of the emission properties of p-Si microcavities with respect to standard p-Si samples are observed: 1) increased emission intensity, 2) spectral narrowing of the emission band, and 3) high directionality in the emission pattern. Resonant-cavity light-emitting diodes with higher efficiencies and stabilities with respect to standard p-Si/metal devices are demonstrated. Reflectivity changes due to absorption saturation have been observed. Paper presented at the III INSEL (Incontro Nazionale sul Silicio Emettitore di Luce), Torino, 12–13 October 1995.     

Chaos-assisted tunneling in dielectric microcavities

We demonstrate that the lifetimes and emission patterns of the optical modes in generic (asymmetric) microresonators are strongly affected by the phenomenon of chaos-assisted tunneling and develop a theory of the effect.     

Motional narrowing in semiconductor microcavities

We describe experiments on a semiconductor microcavity which provide the first demonstration of motional narrowing in semiconductor inter-subband optical transitions. Significant narrowing occurs because of the small mass of the polaritons in a microcavity. The demonstration is made possible by the control provided in a microcavity of the mixing between photon and exciton states, and hence the dispersion of the polariton.     

Polariton emission in GaN microcavities

We present a detailed experimental study aimed at demonstrating the polariton nature of the photoluminescence emission in a bulk GaN microcavity grown on (111) silicon. The comparison of the photoluminescence with coincident reflectivity measurements at different temperatures shows an anticrossing behaviour with a Rabi splitting of the order of 35 meV up to room temperature. Relevant confirmations of the mixing between excitons and photons are found in the analysis of the spectral linewidth and of the time resolved kinetics.     

Switchable lasing in multimode microcavities

We propose the new concept of a switchable multimode microlaser. As a generic, realistic model of a multimode microresonator a system of two coupled defects in a two-dimensional photonic crystal is considered. We demonstrate theoretically that lasing of the cavity into one selected resonator mode can be caused by injecting an appropriate optical pulse at the onset of laser action (injection seeding). Temporal mode-to-mode switching by reseeding the cavity after a short cooldown period is demonstrated by direct numerical solution. A qualitative analytical explanation of the mode switching in terms of the laser bistability is presented.     

Exciton-polaritons in microcavities: present and future

An overview is given of the current research trends in the physics of exciton-polaritons in microcavities. Potential applications of the Bose–Einstein condensation and superfluidity of exciton-polaritons are discussed. The perspectives for the realization of polariton lasers, polariton spin transistors and polarization modulators are presented. PACS 78.67.-n; 71.36.+c; 42.55.Sa; 42.25.Kb     

Spin rings in semiconductor microcavities

New effects of self-organization and polarization pattern formation in semiconductor microcavities, operating in the nonlinear regime, are predicted and theoretically analyzed. We show that a spatially inhomogeneous elliptically polarized optical cw pump leads to the formation of a strongly circularly polarized ring in real space. This effect is due to the polarization multistability of cavity polaritons which was recently predicted. The possible switching between different stable configurations allows the realization of a localized spin memory element, suitable for an optical data storage device.     

Polaritons in large-period multiple quantum wells

Il Nuovo Cimento D - Experimental studies of high-resolution reflectivity and a temperature dependence of the photoluminescence for periodic MQWs of CdTe/CdZnTe with periods equal to a one-half and...     

Electron-polariton scattering in semiconductor microcavities

In semiconductor microcavities, electron-polariton scattering has been proposed as an efficient process that can drive polaritons from the bottleneck region to the ground state, achieving Bose amplification of the optical emission. We present clear experimental observation of this process in a structure that allows control of the electron density and we report substantial enhancement of photoluminescence. We show that this enhancement is more effective at higher temperatures due to the different way that electron scattering processes either broaden or relax polaritons.     

Light Scattering from Polaritons in GaP Crystals

The theory of polariton scattering on stimulated Raman scattering and of coherent anti-Stokes scattering of light in dispersing and dissipative media has been developed in the approximation of a constant intensity which takes into account the reverse influence of excited waves on exciting ones and makes it possible to simultaneously consider the phase difference and decay of all interacting waves. It has been established that, unlike a constant-field approximation, the complex amplitude of the Stokes wave depends on the intensity of the polariton one and vice versa. A comparison of the behavior of the polariton-wave intensity for a GaP crystal in both approximations has been carried out.