Spatial, spectral, and polarization properties of coupled micropillar cavities

Vasconcellos, Steffen Michaelis de; Calvar, Ariane; Dousse, Adrien; Suffczyński, J.; Dupuis, N.; Lemaı̂tre, A.; Sagnes, I.; Bloch, J.; Voisin, P.; Senellart, P.

doi:10.1063/1.3632111

Cited by 49 publications

(64 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Thanks to the spatial overlap of adjacent micropillars, the photons can tunnel between neighboring sites [29,30] with an amplitude that is different for the polarization states parallel and orthogonal to the link direction, as recently reported in Ref. [31] [Figs. 2(a) and 2(b)].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 75%

“…This widening could be caused by the spectral wandering of the emission line in photoluminescence experiments due to fluctuations in the charge environment of the quantum wells. As the measured linewidth is much larger than the expected difference in tunneling energies for different polarizations (10-20 μeV [31]), the spontaneous emission is effectively unpolarized. This situation is well described by Hamiltonian (1): The four energy levels shown in Fig.…”

Section: Low Power: Spin-independent Regimementioning

confidence: 87%

“…The overlap gives rise to a tunneling coupling of polaritons, via their photonic component, between neighboring micropillars, which amounts to 0.3 meV [29,30]. The polarization dependence of the electromagnetic-field penetration out of the edges of the micropillars results in a polarization dependence of the tunneling rate [31]. …”

Section: Hexagonal Photonic Moleculementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Reference [31] points out that the polarization-dependent tunneling term (ℏΔt) dominates over the on-site splitting (ΔE), as sketched for the case of two pillars in Fig. 2(b).…”

Section: Emergence Of the Spin-orbit Couplingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Spin-Orbit Coupling for Photons and Polaritons in Microstructures

et al. 2015

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We use coupled micropillars etched out of a semiconductor microcavity to engineer a spin-orbit Hamiltonian for photons and polaritons in a microstructure. The coupling between the spin and orbital momentum arises from the polarization-dependent confinement and tunneling of photons between adjacent micropillars arranged in the form of a hexagonal photonic molecule. It results in polariton eigenstates with distinct polarization patterns, which are revealed in photoluminescence experiments in the regime of polariton condensation. Thanks to the strong polariton nonlinearities, our system provides a photonic workbench for the quantum simulation of the interplay between interactions and spin-orbit effects, particularly when extended to two-dimensional lattices.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 75%

Section: Low Power: Spin-independent Regimementioning

confidence: 87%

Section: Hexagonal Photonic Moleculementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Reference [31] points out that the polarization-dependent tunneling term (ℏΔt) dominates over the on-site splitting (ΔE), as sketched for the case of two pillars in Fig. 2(b).…”

Section: Emergence Of the Spin-orbit Couplingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Spin-Orbit Coupling for Photons and Polaritons in Microstructures

et al. 2015

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“…1a) are obtained by dry etching of a planar semiconductor microcavity with a Rabi splitting of 15 meV at 10 K, the temperature of our experiments (see Methods). Each individual pillar has a diameter of 4 µm and presents a series of confined polaritonic states [21][22][23] with a lifetime τ ∼ 33 ps. The centre-to-centre separation of 3.7 µm results in a tunnel coupling of the lowest energy confined polaritonic states (ground state) of J = 0.1 meV.…”

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confidence: 99%

Macroscopic quantum self-trapping and Josephson oscillations of exciton polaritons

et al. 2013

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The coupling of two macroscopic quantum states through a tunnel barrier gives rise to Josephson phenomena 1 such as Rabi oscillations 2 , the a.c. and d.c. effects 3 , or macroscopic self-trapping, depending on whether tunnelling or interactions dominate 4 . Nonlinear Josephson physics was first observed in superfluid helium 5 and atomic condensates 6,7 , but it has remained inaccessible in photonic systems because it requires large photon-photon interactions. Here we report on the observation of nonlinear Josephson oscillations of two coupled polariton condensates confined in a photonic molecule formed by two overlapping micropillars etched in a semiconductor microcavity 8 . At low densities we observe coherent oscillations of particles tunnelling between the two sites. At high densities, interactions quench the transfer of particles, inducing the macroscopic self-trapping of polaritons in one of the micropillars 9,10 . The finite lifetime results in a dynamical transition from self-trapping to oscillations with π phase. Our results open the way to the experimental study of highly nonlinear regimes in photonic systems, such as chaos 11-13 or symmetry-breaking bifurcations 14,15 .A bosonic Josephson junction is a device in which two macroscopic ensembles of bosons, each of them occupying a single quantum state, are coupled by a tunnel barrier. The system can be described by the following coupled nonlinear Schrödinger equations 1 :where ψ L,R are the bosonic wavefunctions with particle densities |ψ L,R | 2 localized to the left (L) and to the right (R) of the barrier, E 0 L,R is the single particle energy of the quantum states, U is the particle-particle interaction strength and J is the tunnel coupling constant. In the absence of interactions, equations (1a) and (1b) can be diagonalized in a basis of bonding (). An initial state prepared in a linear combination of these two (for instance, all particles in the left site) will result in density oscillations between the two sites. This is the main principle of the bosonic Josephson effect, which manifests in an ensemble of oscillatory regimes. In the absence of interactions, sinusoidal oscillations take place 4,7 with a frequencȳ Josephson physics shows the most spectacular phenomena in the nonlinear regime, when the interaction energy (U |ψ| 2 ) is greater than the coupling J . The transfer of particles from one site to the other gives rise to a dynamical renormalization of the energy in each site, resulting in anharmonic oscillations. If interactions are strong enough (U |ψ| 2 J ), the self-induced energy renormalization quenches the tunnelling, and most of the particles remain localized in one of the sites. This out of equilibrium metastable regime is called macroscopic quantum self-trapping.A number of bosonic systems have demonstrated Josephson physics. Harmonic oscillations in the linear regime have been observed in superconductor junctions 2 or in nanoscale apertures connecting superfluid helium vessels 5 . Bose-Einstein condensates of ultracold atoms in cou...

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Spectral engineering of coupled open‐access microcavities

Flatten

Trichet

Smith

2015

Laser & Photonics Reviews

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Open-access microcavities are emerging as a new approach to confine and engineer light at mode volumes down to the λ 3 regime. They offer direct access to a highly confined electromagnetic field while maintaining tunability of the system and flexibility for coupling to a range of matter systems. This article presents a study of coupled cavities, for which the substrates are produced using Focused Ion Beam milling. Based on experimental and theoretical investigation the engineering of the coupling between two microcavities with radius of curvature of 6 µm is demonstrated. Details are provided by studying the evolution of spectral, spatial and polarisation properties through the transition from isolated to coupled cavities. Normal mode splittings up to 20 meV are observed for total mode volumes around 10 × λ 3 . This work is of importance for future development of lab-on-a-chip sensors and photonic open-access devices ranging from polariton systems to quantum simulators.

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Spatial, spectral, and polarization properties of coupled micropillar cavities

Cited by 49 publications

References 17 publications

Spin-Orbit Coupling for Photons and Polaritons in Microstructures

Spin-Orbit Coupling for Photons and Polaritons in Microstructures

Macroscopic quantum self-trapping and Josephson oscillations of exciton polaritons

Spectral engineering of coupled open‐access microcavities

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