Nonresonant optical control of a spinor polariton condensate

Abstract

We investigate the spin dynamics of polariton condensates spatially separated from and effectively confined by the pumping exciton reservoir. We obtain a strong correlation between the ellipticity of the non-resonant optical pump and the degree of circular polarisation (DCP) of the condensate at the onset of condensation. With increasing excitation density we observe a reversal of the DCP. The spin dynamics of the trapped condensate are described within the framework of the spinor complex Ginzburg-Landau equations in the Josephson regime, where the dynamics of the system are reduced to a current-driven Josephson junction. We show that the observed spin reversal is due to the interplay between an internal Josephson coupling effect and the detuning of the two projections of the spinor condensate via transition from a synchronised to a desynchronised regime. These results suggest that spinor polariton condensates can be controlled by tuning the non-resonant excitation density offering applications in electrically pumped polariton spin switches.

Spin–orbit coupling and nonlinear modes of the polariton condensate in a harmonic trap

“…The model that we consider in this work consists of coupled GPEs for the two-component polariton spinor wave function , Y Y + -( ) [20,24]. We assume that the polariton condensate is pumped by means of a nonresonant optical scheme, which creates a density of coherent and incoherent excitons [29,38].…”

“…In the polariton microcavities, which are the subject of the present work, a variety of practical methods have been developed to secure high quality of the engineered trapping landscapes [23]. As concerns polaritons in a simple single potential well, there are only a few studies that addressed nonlinear modes of these traps, largely disregarding SOC, see, e.g., [24][25][26][27]. Nevertheless, a recent experimental work on open polaritonic resonators supplies a system with strong SOC effects [28].…”

Electrical Tuning of Nonlinearities in Exciton-Polariton Condensates

“…Polaritons interact nonlinearly due to their excitonic component and can form macroscopically coherent condensates [5]. They are scalable to form arrays by either etching [6][7][8] or optical patterning [9][10][11] of the microcavity. However, in the presently studied systems, polariton-polariton interaction energy is smaller as compared to their line-broadening.…”

Miscible–immiscible transition and nonequilibrium scaling in two-component driven open condensate wires

“…Recent experimental development in nanoscience, quantum optics, ultracold atom physics and related areas has given rise to new classes of synthetic physical systems with properties of both fundamental and practical interests. One class of these systems are quantum many body ensembles in a driven open setting, which includes excitonpolaritons in semiconductor heterostructures [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9], ultracold atoms [10][11][12], trapped ions [13,14], and microcavity arrays [15,16]. The unifying and characteristic trait of these systems is the breaking of detailed balance on the microscopic level, making them promising laboratories to advance the frontier of nonequilibrium statistical physics.…”

“…One current research focus are driven open condensates (DOCs). They can be realized, for instance, in exciton-polariton systems [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]. On the one hand, recent theoretical investigations [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24] on singlecomponent DOCs have revealed a new class of nonequilibrium phenomena, that are related to a variant of the famous Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) equation [25] in nonequilibrium statistical physics.…”