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arXiv:1405.7030 · Physical Review A

Quantum Langevin model for nonequilibrium condensation

Alessio Chiocchetta, Iacopo Carusotto

Published Aug 28, 2014• 48 citations
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Abstract

We develop a quantum model for nonequilibrium Bose-Einstein condensation of photons and polaritons in planar microcavity devices. The model builds on laser theory and includes the spatial dynamics of the cavity field, a saturation mechanism, and some frequency dependence of the gain: quantum Langevin equations are written for a cavity field coupled to a continuous distribution of externally pumped two-level emitters with a well-defined frequency. As an example of application, the method is used to study the linearized quantum fluctuations around a steady-state condensed state. In the good-cavity regime, an effective equation for the cavity field only is proposed in terms of a stochastic Gross-Pitaevskii equation. Perspectives in view of a full quantum simulation of the nonequilibrium condensation process are finally sketched.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.90.023633

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We develop a quantum model for nonequilibrium Bose-Einstein condensation of photons and polaritons in planar microcavity devices. The model builds on laser theory and includes the spatial dynamics of the cavity field, a saturation mechanism, and some frequency dependence of the gain: quantum Langevin equations are written for a cavity field coupled to a continuous distribution of externally pumped two-level emitters with a well-defined frequency. As an example of application, the method is used to study the linearized quantum fluctuations around a steady-state condensed state. In the good-cavity regime, an effective equation for the cavity field only is proposed in terms of a stochastic Gross-Pitaevskii equation. Perspectives in view of a full quantum simulation of the nonequilibrium condensation process are finally sketched.
We consider Bose-Einstein condensation of photons in an optical cavity filled with dye molecules that are excited by laser light. By using the Schwinger-Keldysh formalism we derive a Langevin field equation that describes the dynamics of the photon gas and, in particular, its equilibrium properties and relaxation towards equilibrium. Furthermore we show that the finite lifetime effects of the photons are captured in a single dimensionless damping parameter that depends on the power of the external laser pumping the dye. Finally, as applications of our theory we determine spectral functions and collective modes of the photon gas in both the normal and the Bose-Einstein condensed phases.
We theoretically study the superfluidity properties of a nonequilibrium Bose-Einstein condensate of exciton polaritons in a semiconductor microcavity under incoherent pumping. The dynamics of the condensate is described at mean-field level in terms of a generalized Gross-Pitaevskii equation. The drag force on a small moving object and the onset of fringes in the density profile are shown to have a sharp threshold as a function of the velocity; a generalized Landau criterion is developed to explain this behavior in terms of the dispersion of elementary excitations. Metastability of supercurrents in multiply-connected geometries is shown to persist up to higher flow speeds.
The properties of traps for exciton polaritons in a semiconductor microcavity with an embedded quantum well have been considered. The behavior of the two-component Bose-Einstein condensate of photons and excitons described by the coupled system of Gross-Pitaevskii equations has been investigated. The analytical solutions for weak-confinement traps have been found in the Thomas-Fermi approximation. In the case of strong confinement, the behavior of the condensate has been investigated and constraints on the possible values of the chemical potential of the system have been obtained. The wavefunctions and generally different spatial profiles of the coupled photon and exciton condensates have been found.
Photon condensation in semiconductor microcavities is a transformative technique for engineering quantum states of light at room temperature by tailoring strong but incoherent light-matter interactions. While continuous-wave and electrical pumping offer exceptional prospects for miniaturized quantum photonic technologies, harnessing these requires conceptual advances in understanding nonequilibrium light-matter dynamics in semiconductors. We resolve this challenge through an \textit{ab initio} quantum kinetic theory capturing how Coulomb interactions of optically excited carriers and phonon scattering mediate photon thermalization and condensation in semiconductors. Our microscopic model shows that at high carrier densities, thermalization is dominated by carrier-carrier Coulomb scattering, in clear contrast to the rovibrational relaxation that governs dye-based photon condensates. The theory predicts a rich nonequilibrium phase diagram with thermal, Bose-condensed, multimode, and lasing phases, quantitatively in agreement with recent experiments. Crucially, we identify how cavity detuning controls transitions between equilibrium and gain-dominated regimes, enabling tailored design of coherent light sources. This work thus provides the foundation for semiconductor-based quantum photonic devices operating beyond conventional laser paradigms.
Abstract Photon condensation was first experimentally realized in 2010 within a dye-filled microcavity at room temperature. Since then, interest in the field has increased significantly, as a photon Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) represents a prototypical driven-dissipative system. Here, we investigate how its inherent open nature influences the condensation process both quantitatively and qualitatively. To this end, we consider a mean-field model, which can be derived microscopically from a Lindblad master equation. The underlying rate equations depend on various external parameters such as emission and absorption rates of the dye molecules as well as the cavity photon loss rate. In steady state, we obtain an open-dissipative Bose-Einstein distribution for the mode occupations. The chemical potential of this distribution depends on the occupations of the dye molecules in both their ground and excited state and must therefore be determined self-consistently. We find that the resulting photon distribution is strongly influenced by the driven-dissipative parameters. Based on this result, we identify the main differences between a photonic BEC, an atomic BEC, and a laser.