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arXiv:1903.01259 · Physical Review Letters

Optical Signature of Quantum Coherence in Fully Dark Exciton Condensates

Shiue-Yuan Shiau, Monique Combescot

Published Aug 27, 2019• 8 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We predict that the collision of two fully dark exciton condensates produces bright interference fringes. So, quite surprisingly, the collision of coherent dark states makes light. This remarkable effect, which is many body in essence, comes from the composite boson nature of excitons, through the fermion exchanges they can have which transform dark states into bright states. The possibility of optically detecting quantum coherence in a regime where the system is hidden by its total darkness was up to now considered as hopeless.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.123.097401

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We predict that the collision of two fully dark exciton condensates produces bright interference fringes. So, quite surprisingly, the collision of coherent dark states makes light. This remarkable effect, which is many body in essence, comes from the composite boson nature of excitons, through the fermion exchanges they can have which transform dark states into bright states. The possibility of optically detecting quantum coherence in a regime where the system is hidden by its total darkness was up to now considered as hopeless.
Chapter 19 addresses bosonic condensation in composite bosons. It first considers the coboson ground-state energy, which is analytically known by now in the case of N Cooper pairs interacting via the reduced BCS potential but not yet known for N Wannier or Frenkel excitons, owing to the complexity of the Coulomb potential. Still, the chapter provides hints on how to derive the density linear term of the N-exciton ground-state energy in the case of Wannier excitons. It also discusses the role of the exciton composite nature in condensate momentum fragmentation, spin fragmentation, and condensate brightness. Indeed, the excitons that have the lowest energy and thus are the ones expected to condense are not coupled to light; so, the exciton condensate must be dark. However, a bright exciton condensate can appear, coherent with the dark exciton condensate, above a density threshold, owing to coupling induced by carrier exchange between dark excitons and bright excitons.
Condensation of bosons causes spectacular phenomena such as superfluidity or superconductivity. Understanding the nature of the condensed particles is crucial for active control of such quantum phases. Fascinating possibilities emerge from condensates of light–matter-coupled excitations, such as exciton–polaritons, photons hybridized with hydrogen-like bound electron–hole pairs. So far, only the photon component has been resolved, while even the mere existence of excitons in the condensed regime has been challenged. Here we trace the matter component of polariton condensates by monitoring intra-excitonic terahertz transitions. We study how a reservoir of optically dark excitons forms and feeds the degenerate state. Unlike atomic gases, the atom-like transition in excitons is dramatically renormalized on macroscopic ground state population. Our results establish fundamental differences between polariton condensation and photon lasing and open possibilities for coherent control of condensates. Exciton–polaritons are bosonic quasi-particles resulting from strong coupling of excitons and photons but so far only their photon component had been resolved. Here, Menard et al. monitor the intra-excitonic transitions and study how a reservoir of optically dark excitons forms and feeds the degenerate state.
It is well-known that strong Coulomb effects in carbon nanotubes lead to formation of the so-called bright and (forbidden one-photon optical transition) exciton states, and dramatically decrease the efficiency of one-photon light emission via trapping of the carriers by states. We suggest and demonstrate that the proper use of these bright and exciton states with distinctively different recombination times may turn the situation around: the use of quantum coherence and multiphoton schemes of excitation potentially not only allow one to efficiently manipulate the dark states, but can also create conditions for efficient light generation in different frequency regions, produce slow or fast light, implement quantum light storage, and media with a negative refractive index. We discuss possible applications of the quantum coherent effects to quantum-optical carbon nanotube devices that have a potential for suitable performance at elevated temperatures, because the binding energies of excitons in single-walled nanotubes are hundreds-of-meV high.