We study the influence of spatial confinement on the second-order temporal coherence of the emission from a semiconductor microcavity in the strong coupling regime. The confinement, provided by etched micropillars, has a favorable impact on the temporal coherence of solid state quasicondensates that evolve in our device above threshold. By fitting the experimental data with a microscopic quantum theory based on a quantum jump approach, we scrutinize the influence of pump power and confinement and find that phonon-mediated transitions are enhanced in the case of a confined structure, in which the modes split into a discrete set. By increasing the pump power beyond the condensation threshold, temporal coherence significantly improves in devices with increased spatial confinement, as revealed in the transition from thermal to coherent statistics of the emitted light.

Microcavity exciton polaritons are promising candidates to build a new generation of highly nonlinear and integrated optoelectronic devices. Such devices range from novel coherent light emitters to reconfigurable potential landscapes for electro-optical polariton-lattice based quantum simulators as well as building blocks of optical logic architectures. Especially for the latter, the strongly interacting nature of the light-matter hybrid particles has been used to facilitate fast and efficient switching of light by light, something which is very hard to achieve with weakly interacting photons. We demonstrate here that polariton transistor switches can be fully integrated in electro-optical schemes by implementing a one-dimensional polariton channel which is operated by an electrical gate rather than by a control laser beam. The operation of the device, which is the polariton equivalent to a field-effect transistor, relies on combining electro-optical potential landscape engineering with local exciton ionization to control the scattering dynamics underneath the gate. We furthermore demonstrate that our device has a region of negative differential resistance and features a completely new way to create bistable behavior.

The dipole coupling strength g between cavity photons and quantum well excitons determines the regime of light matter coupling in quantum well microcavities. In the strong coupling regime, a reversible energy transfer between exciton and cavity photon takes place, which leads to the formation of hybrid polaritonic resonances. If the coupling is further increased, a hybridization of different single exciton states emerges, which is referred to as the very strong coupling regime. In semiconductor quantum wells such a regime is predicted to manifest as a photon-mediated electron-hole coupling leading to different excitonic wave functions for the two polaritonic branches when the ratio of the coupling strength to exciton binding energy g/E_{B} approaches unity. Here, we verify experimentally the existence of this regime in magneto-optical measurements on a microcavity characterized by g/E_{B}≈0.64, showing that the average electron-hole separation of the upper polariton is significantly increased compared to the bare quantum well exciton Bohr radius. This yields a diamagnetic shift around 0 detuning that exceeds the shift of the lower polariton by 1 order of magnitude and the bare quantum well exciton diamagnetic shift by a factor of 2. The lower polariton exhibits a diamagnetic shift smaller than expected from the coupling of a rigid exciton to the cavity mode, which suggests more tightly bound electron-hole pairs than in the bare quantum well.

We report on electrically and nonresonant optically induced switching in the bistable regime of an electrically pumped polariton laser. Electrical switching effects can be observed by adding controlled noise in the electrical pump of the system. Noise is expected to influence the hysteresis characteristics of a bistable device and determines its application robustness. We find that the hysteresis width decreases symmetrically with a linear dependency until we observe a quenching of the bistability at a certain noise level and the output of the system becomes monostable. Furthermore, we explore the possibility to switch between the two bistable branches by a nonresonant optical pulse. Our experimental findings can be described by a set of rate equations modeling the population dynamics with additional noise terms.

We report on optical probing of the Coulomb interactions in an electrically driven exciton-polariton laser. By positioning a weak non-resonant Gaussian continuous wave-beam with a diameter of 2 μm inside an electrical condensate excited in a 20 μm diameter micropillar, we study a repulsion effect which is characteristic of the part-excitonic nature of the microcavity system in strong coupling. It manifests itself in a modified real space distribution of the emission pattern. Furthermore, polariton repulsion results in a continuous blueshift of the emission with the increased power of the probe beam. A Gross-Pitaevskii equation approach based on modeling the electrical and optical potentials explains our experimental data.

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 to polariton and photon lasing, respectively. The power dependence of the probed photocurrent shows a distinct kink at the threshold power for photon lasing due to an increased radiative recombination of free carriers as stimulated emission into the cavity mode sets in. At the polariton lasing threshold, on the other hand, the nonlinear increase of the luminescence is caused by stimulated scattering of exciton polaritons to the ground state which do not contribute directly to the photocurrent.

Light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation, well-known for revolutionising photonic science, has been realised primarily in fermionic systems including widely applied diode lasers. The prerequisite for fermionic lasing is the inversion of electronic population, which governs the lasing threshold. More recently, bosonic lasers have also been developed based on Bose-Einstein condensates of exciton-polaritons in semiconductor microcavities. These electrically neutral bosons coexist with charged electrons and holes. In the presence of magnetic fields, the charged particles are bound to their cyclotron orbits, while the neutral exciton-polaritons move freely. We demonstrate how magnetic fields affect dramatically the phase diagram of mixed Bose-Fermi systems, switching between fermionic lasing, incoherent emission and bosonic lasing regimes in planar and pillar microcavities with optical and electrical pumping. We collected and analyzed the data taken on pillar and planar microcavity structures at continuous wave and pulsed optical excitation as well as injecting electrons and holes electronically. Our results evidence the transition from a Bose gas to a Fermi liquid mediated by magnetic fields and light-matter coupling.

In planar GaAs microcavities in a magnetic field up to 5 T perpendicular to the structure growth plane, under conditions of resonant pulsed pumping to a point close to the inflection point of the lower dispersion curve, Zeeman splitting of the spin sublevels of the polariton condensate is observed. This is accompanied by a significant change in the degree of circular polarization and the second-order correlator g2(0). It is found that the correlator is different for the spin sublevels of the polariton condensate, split in a magnetic field. In particular, correlator measurements indicate different condensation thresholds for the spin sublevels. The correlator values initially differing in terms of the absence of a field increase, reach a maximum, and then decrease and become equal for different polarizations in a field of 5 T.

We observe a bistability in an electrically driven polariton condensate, which is manifested by a memory dependent threshold characteristic. The bistability is explained by a dependence of the electron-hole tunneling lifetime on the carrier density.

The possibility of investigating macroscopic coherent quantum states in polariton condensates and of engineering polariton landscapes in semiconductors has triggered interest in using polaritonic systems to simulate complexmany-body phenomena. However, advanced experiments require superior trapping techniques that allow for the engineering of periodic and arbitrary potentials with strong on-site localization, clean condensate formation, and nearest-neighbor coupling. Here we establish a technology that meets these demands and enables strong, potentially tunable trapping without affecting the favorable polariton characteristics. The traps are based on a locally elongated microcavity which can be formed by standard lithography. We observe polariton condensation with non-resonant pumping in single traps and photonic crystal square lattice arrays. In the latter structures, we observe pronounced energy bands, complete band gaps, and spontaneous condensation at the M-point of the Brillouin zone.

We establish a technology which allows for deep and tunable polariton trapping. Pronounced band structures with full gaps and condensation at high symmetry points is observed in square lattice arrangements of evanescently coupled potential traps.

Electro-optical measurements on exciton-polaritons below and above the condensation threshold are performed on high quality, pin-doped microcavities with embedded GaAs quantum wells. Applying an external electric field shifts the polariton emission by hundreds of μeV both in the linear and the nonlinear regime. We study three device geometries to investigate the influence of carrier confinement in the plane of the quantum well on the electro-optical tuning properties. In the conventional micropillar geometry, the electric field tuning behavior is dominated by the effects of carrier tunneling and electric field screening that manifest in a blueshift of the polariton emission. In stark contrast, for a planar sample geometry, we can significantly extend the range of electric fields and a redshift is observed. To separate the contributions of quantum confined Stark effect and reduced exciton oscillator strength to the energy shift, we study a third sample where the etching of micropillars is stopped just above the active region. In this semi-planar geometry, exciton and polariton emissions can be measured simultaneously. As for the planar geometry, redshifts of the polariton emission are observed below and above threshold that are well reproduced by theoretical shifts.

Despite their name polariton lasers do not rely on stimulated emission of cavity photons. The less stringent threshold conditions are the cause that bosonic polariton lasers can outperform standard lasers in terms of their threshold currents. The part-light and part-matter quasiparticles called polaritons, can undergo a condensation process into a common energy state. The radiated light from such a system shares many similarities with the light emitted from a conventional photon laser, even though the decay of the polaritons out of the finite lifetime cavity is a spontaneous process. We discuss properties of polariton condensates in GaAs based microcavities. The system’s response to an external magnetic field is used as a reliable tool to distinguish between polariton laser and conventional photon laser. In particular, we will discuss the realization of an electrically pumped polariton laser, which manifests a major step towards the exploitation of polaritonic devices in the real world.

Exciton-polaritons are quasi-particles that form as an interaction of light and matter in the strong coupling regime (a state in which energy is coherently exchanged between an emitter and a resonant cavity field).1 These particles have a small effective mass, and can undergo condensation even at room temperature in large bandgap semiconductors2 or organic films.3 By contrast, such a transition in atoms requires temperatures of some K. It is possible to use polariton condensates as a laser-like light source (a polariton laser) that consumes relatively small quantities of power. Furthermore, their bosonic nature makes them suitable for applications in quantum simulators or logic devices. Unlike conventional lasers, polariton lasers do not rely on stimulated emission of cavity photons. Instead, during a dynamic phase transition, a macroscopic number of excitonpolaritons populate a common ground (lowest energy) state. Consequently, photons leak out and these adopt the monochromatic and coherent nature of the condensed polaritons, making the emission laser-like. These bosonic polariton lasers have less stringent conditions in terms of minimum threshold current, and therefore can outperform standard lasers. Until recently, it had only been possible to observe the effects of polariton condensation and lasing in various optically pumped systems.4–6 Here we describe this type of laser operation under electrical pumping, a crucial step toward its wider application.7–9 Our polariton laser diode consists of a high quality factor (Qfactor 6300) gallium arsenide/aluminum arsenide (GaAs/AlAs) distributed Bragg reflector sample, with four integrated indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs) quantum wells in an intrinsic GaAs -cavity with doped mirrors. The Rabi splitting of the sample Figure 1. (a) Schematic of the polariton laser diode sample. (b–d) Energy dispersion for lower polariton, polariton condensate, and photon laser, respectively. j: Current density. kk: In-plane wave vector.

We report on electro optical tuning of the emission from GaAs quantum wells resonantly coupled to a Tamm-plasmon mode in a hybrid metal/dielectric structure. The structures were studied via momentum resolved photoluminescence and photoreflectance spectroscopy, and the surface metal layer was used as a top gate, which allowed for a precise tuning of the quantum well emission via the quantum confined Stark effect. By tuning the resonance, we were able to observe the characteristic anticrossing behavior of a polaritonic emission in the strong light-matter coupling regime, yielding a Rabi splitting of (9.2 +/- 60.2) meV. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.

We report exciton-polariton laser operation under electrical pumping. The hybrid light-matter nature of this lasing system is probed by measuring the exciton-polariton Zeeman-splitting, which clearly reveals that this laser remains in the strong coupling regime.

Polariton lasers do not rely on stimulated emission of cavity photons, which sets stringent conditions on the threshold current in a conventional laser. Indeed, it has been demonstrated in optically pumped systems, that bosonic polariton lasers can outperform standard lasers in terms of their threshold power. The polaritons, which are part light and part matter quasiparticles, can undergo a condensation process into a common energy state. The radiated light from such a system shares many similarities with the light emitted from a conventional photon laser, even though the decay of the polaritons is a spontaneous process. We discuss properties of polariton lasers and condensates in GaAs based microcavities. Special emphasis is given to the system’s response to an applied magnetic field. We introduce the magnetic field interactions as a reliable tool to distinguish a polariton laser from a conventional photon laser device. In particular, we will discuss the first successful realization of an electrically pumped polariton laser, which marks a promising step towards the exploitation of polaritonic devices in the real world. We believe that our work can be extended to devices operated at room temperature by transferring the technology to large bandgap semiconductors, or even to GaAs samples with a modified layer design.

We observe a strong variation of the Zeeman splitting of exciton polaritons in microcavities when switching between the linear regime, the polariton lasing, and photon lasing regimes. In the polariton lasing regime the sign of Zeeman splitting changes compared to the linear regime, while in the photon lasing regime the splitting vanishes. We additionally observe an increase of the diamagnetic shift in the polariton lasing regime. These effects are explained in terms of the nonequilibrium "spin Meissner effect."

Exciton-polariton lasers are operated in the strong light matter coupling regime. They promise low threshold operation since population inversion is not inherently necessary. Hence they are of great interest for next generation coherent light sources.