Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:1212.5787 · Physical Review B

Spin multistability of cavity polaritons in a magnetic field

Sergei S. Gavrilov, A. V. Sekretenko, Николай Алексеевич Гиппиус, Christian Schneider, Sven Höfling, Martin Kamp, A. Forchel, V. D. Kulakovskiĭ

Published May 28, 2013• 29 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Ultrafast transitions between opposite-spin states of multicomponent bosonic condensates, proceeding on the timescale comparable to the lifetime of the particles the condensate consists of, are demonstrated in a resonantly excited system of cavity polaritons in a magnetic field. Spin-sensitive pair interactions enable fast and massive spin flips occurring at critical amplitudes due to the interplay between amplitude-dependent shifts of eigenstates and the Zeeman splitting. Dominant spin of a condensate can be toggled back and forth by tuning of the pump intensity only, which was impossible in spin-degenerate cavity-polariton systems, cavities with weak exciton-photon coupling, and other previously known photonic systems and devices.

DOI
10.1103/physrevb.87.201303

Related papers

Multistability in chiral cavity-polariton systems

Sergei S. Gavrilov, A. V. Sekretenko, Николай Алексеевич Гиппиус +5 more

Chirality of cavity polaritons, brought on by lifted degeneracy of right- and left-circularly polarized polariton levels, makes possible a new kind of multistability that manifests itself in fast (few tens of picoseconds) spin-flip transitions in the cavity field under a resonant pump with fixed polarization but varying intensity. This effect is due to resonance-shifting polariton-polariton interactions; it has been described within a coherent mean-field approach and observed experimentally using pulsed 70 picosecond long excitation in a magnetic field.

•Dec 23, 2012•0 citations

Polariton-polariton interactions in microcavities under a resonant 10 to 100 picosecond pulse excitation

A. V. Sekretenko, Sergei S. Gavrilov, V. D. Kulakovskiĭ

Experimental studies have been performed of the nonequilibrium transitions in multistable cavity-polariton systems under 10 ps long pulsed excitation, i.e., within nearly the shortest time scale necessary for the multistability to be revealed in GaAs-based microcavities. The experiments were aimed to determine the ratio of the strengths of the pair interactions between polaritons with parallel and antiparallel spins, which also was the question raised in a number of recent studies. We show that in contrast to the cases of continuous-wave or nanosecond long pumping conditions, in the fast pulse regime the system is not affected by the excitonic reservoir. The interaction between polaritons with opposite spins is definitely attractive at a nearly zero detuning of exciton and photon modes; as a result, optical response can be essentially multistable at a linearly polarized excitation. With increasing pulse duration up to 100 ps, the reservoir can start manifesting itself in a reduction of the spin multistability.

Physical Review B•Nov 7, 2013•37 citations

Bistability and nonequilibrium transitions in the system of cavity polaritons under nanosecond-long resonant excitation

Sergei S. Gavrilov, Andrey S. Brichkin, A. A. Demenev +5 more

The polarization dependence of nonequilibrium transitions in a multistable cavity-polariton system is studied under nanosecond-long resonant optical excitation at normal and magic angle incidences with various polarizations of the pump beam. The temporal correlations between the frequency, intensity, and optical polarization of the intracavity field, which all undergo sharp threshold-like changes due to the spin-dependent interaction of cavity polaritons, are visualized. The observed dynamics cannot be reproduced within the conventional semiclassical model based on the Gross-Pitaevskii equations. To explain the observed phenomena, it is necessary to take into account the unpolarized exciton reservoir that brings on an additional blue shift of bright excitons, the same for the ${\ensuremath{\sigma}}^{+}$ and ${\ensuremath{\sigma}}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ polarization components. This model explains the effect of polarization instability under both pulsed- and continuous-wave resonant excitation conditions, consistently with the spin ring pattern formation that has recently been observed under Gaussian-shaped excitation.

arXiv:1106.4175•Physical Review B•Feb 27, 2012•32 citations

Tunable spin multistability of cavity polaritons for multichannel optical switching

Szu-Cheng Cheng, Ting-Wei Chen

We present a theoretical study of spin multistability and hysteresis in resonantly pumped exciton–polaritons within semiconductor microcavities. This multistable behavior arises from the nonlinear, polarization-dependent anisotropy of polariton–polariton interactions. Unlike conventional optical bistability in spinless nonlinear optical systems, the dynamics are governed by spin-selective coupling. We calculate the steady-state polariton density and degree of circular polarization of the intracavity polariton field, demonstrating that for a fixed pump polarization, wave vector, and detuning, the degree of polarization could take on multiple values depending on the pump strength. This spin-sensitive multistability lays the groundwork for multichannel optical switches governed not just by total pump intensity but also by its pump polarization.

Journal of the Optical Society of America B•Dec 23, 2025•1 citation

Spin multistability in dissipative polariton channels

Özgür Bozat, Ivan G. Savenko, Ivan Andreevich Shelykh

We present a model for the theoretical description of the dynamics of a system of spinor cavity polaritons in real space and time, accounting for all relevant types of the interactions and effective magnetic fields. We apply our general formalism for the consideration of the polarization dynamics of the coherently driven, one-dimensional polariton channel. We investigate the effect of the temperature and the longitudinal-transverse splitting on the spin (polarization) multistability and hysteresis arising from the polarization-dependent polariton-polariton interaction. We show that the effect of the phase of the driving laser pump is as important as its strength, and demonstrate that the multistability behavior can survive up to high temperatures in the presence of longitudinal-transverse splitting.

arXiv:1205.1024•Physical Review B•Jul 10, 2012•20 citations

Pumping-assisted multistability of exciton-polariton condensates

Zi-Fa Yu, Ju-Kui Xue, Lin Zhuang +2 more

We investigate the multistability of exciton-polariton condensates excited by a nonresonant pump. An increase in pumping power moves the system away from non-Hermitian spectral degeneracy towards spectrum splitting through an exceptional point, which induces a transition from monostability to multistability. In the region of multistability, the system contains one steady and two metastable states. The analyses of stability show that metastable states maintain a finite lifetime and eventually evolve to steady states. A steady state with multi-peak soliton different from general single-peak soliton is discovered for attractive polariton-polariton interaction. Moreover, we depict the diagram of the multistability in full parameter space to accurately manipulate the multistability. Our results open up exciting possibilities for controlling non-Hermitian quantum multistable states, which may be useful to designing polariton-based devices exploiting optical multistability.

arXiv:2007.08737•Jul 17, 2020•0 citations
Ultrafast transitions between opposite-spin states of multicomponent bosonic condensates, proceeding on the timescale comparable to the lifetime of the particles the condensate consists of, are demonstrated in a resonantly excited system of cavity polaritons in a magnetic field. Spin-sensitive pair interactions enable fast and massive spin flips occurring at critical amplitudes due to the interplay between amplitude-dependent shifts of eigenstates and the Zeeman splitting. Dominant spin of a condensate can be toggled back and forth by tuning of the pump intensity only, which was impossible in spin-degenerate cavity-polariton systems, cavities with weak exciton-photon coupling, and other previously known photonic systems and devices.
Chirality of cavity polaritons, brought on by lifted degeneracy of right- and left-circularly polarized polariton levels, makes possible a new kind of multistability that manifests itself in fast (few tens of picoseconds) spin-flip transitions in the cavity field under a resonant pump with fixed polarization but varying intensity. This effect is due to resonance-shifting polariton-polariton interactions; it has been described within a coherent mean-field approach and observed experimentally using pulsed 70 picosecond long excitation in a magnetic field.
Experimental studies have been performed of the nonequilibrium transitions in multistable cavity-polariton systems under 10 ps long pulsed excitation, i.e., within nearly the shortest time scale necessary for the multistability to be revealed in GaAs-based microcavities. The experiments were aimed to determine the ratio of the strengths of the pair interactions between polaritons with parallel and antiparallel spins, which also was the question raised in a number of recent studies. We show that in contrast to the cases of continuous-wave or nanosecond long pumping conditions, in the fast pulse regime the system is not affected by the excitonic reservoir. The interaction between polaritons with opposite spins is definitely attractive at a nearly zero detuning of exciton and photon modes; as a result, optical response can be essentially multistable at a linearly polarized excitation. With increasing pulse duration up to 100 ps, the reservoir can start manifesting itself in a reduction of the spin multistability.
The polarization dependence of nonequilibrium transitions in a multistable cavity-polariton system is studied under nanosecond-long resonant optical excitation at normal and magic angle incidences with various polarizations of the pump beam. The temporal correlations between the frequency, intensity, and optical polarization of the intracavity field, which all undergo sharp threshold-like changes due to the spin-dependent interaction of cavity polaritons, are visualized. The observed dynamics cannot be reproduced within the conventional semiclassical model based on the Gross-Pitaevskii equations. To explain the observed phenomena, it is necessary to take into account the unpolarized exciton reservoir that brings on an additional blue shift of bright excitons, the same for the ${\ensuremath{\sigma}}^{+}$ and ${\ensuremath{\sigma}}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ polarization components. This model explains the effect of polarization instability under both pulsed- and continuous-wave resonant excitation conditions, consistently with the spin ring pattern formation that has recently been observed under Gaussian-shaped excitation.
We present a theoretical study of spin multistability and hysteresis in resonantly pumped exciton–polaritons within semiconductor microcavities. This multistable behavior arises from the nonlinear, polarization-dependent anisotropy of polariton–polariton interactions. Unlike conventional optical bistability in spinless nonlinear optical systems, the dynamics are governed by spin-selective coupling. We calculate the steady-state polariton density and degree of circular polarization of the intracavity polariton field, demonstrating that for a fixed pump polarization, wave vector, and detuning, the degree of polarization could take on multiple values depending on the pump strength. This spin-sensitive multistability lays the groundwork for multichannel optical switches governed not just by total pump intensity but also by its pump polarization.
We present a model for the theoretical description of the dynamics of a system of spinor cavity polaritons in real space and time, accounting for all relevant types of the interactions and effective magnetic fields. We apply our general formalism for the consideration of the polarization dynamics of the coherently driven, one-dimensional polariton channel. We investigate the effect of the temperature and the longitudinal-transverse splitting on the spin (polarization) multistability and hysteresis arising from the polarization-dependent polariton-polariton interaction. We show that the effect of the phase of the driving laser pump is as important as its strength, and demonstrate that the multistability behavior can survive up to high temperatures in the presence of longitudinal-transverse splitting.
We investigate the multistability of exciton-polariton condensates excited by a nonresonant pump. An increase in pumping power moves the system away from non-Hermitian spectral degeneracy towards spectrum splitting through an exceptional point, which induces a transition from monostability to multistability. In the region of multistability, the system contains one steady and two metastable states. The analyses of stability show that metastable states maintain a finite lifetime and eventually evolve to steady states. A steady state with multi-peak soliton different from general single-peak soliton is discovered for attractive polariton-polariton interaction. Moreover, we depict the diagram of the multistability in full parameter space to accurately manipulate the multistability. Our results open up exciting possibilities for controlling non-Hermitian quantum multistable states, which may be useful to designing polariton-based devices exploiting optical multistability.