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Science

Condensation of Semiconductor Microcavity Exciton Polaritons

Hui Deng, Gregor Weihs, Charles Santori, Jacqueline Bloch, Y. Yamamoto

Published Oct 3, 2002• 890 citations
Publisher

Abstract

A phase transition from a classical thermal mixed state to a quantum-mechanical pure state of exciton polaritons is observed in a GaAs multiple quantum-well microcavity from the decrease of the second-order coherence function. Supporting evidence is obtained from the observation of a nonlinear threshold behavior in the pump-intensity dependence of the emission, a polariton-like dispersion relation above threshold, and a decrease of the relaxation time into the lower polariton state. The condensation of microcavity exciton polaritons is confirmed.

DOI
10.1126/science.1074464

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A phase transition from a classical thermal mixed state to a quantum-mechanical pure state of exciton polaritons is observed in a GaAs multiple quantum-well microcavity from the decrease of the second-order coherence function. Supporting evidence is obtained from the observation of a nonlinear threshold behavior in the pump-intensity dependence of the emission, a polariton-like dispersion relation above threshold, and a decrease of the relaxation time into the lower polariton state. The condensation of microcavity exciton polaritons is confirmed.
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Bose-Einstein condensate of exciton polaritons in a semiconductor microcavity is a macroscopically populated coherent quantum state subject to concurrent pumping and decay. Debates about the fundamental nature of the condensed phase in this open quantum system still persist. Here, we gain a new insight into the spontaneous condensation process by imaging long-lifetime exciton polaritons in a high-quality inorganic microcavity in the single-shot optical excitation regime, without averaging over multiple condensate realisations. In this highly non-stationary regime, a condensate is strongly influenced by the `hot' incoherent reservoir, and reservoir depletion is critical for the transition to the ground energy and momentum state. Condensates formed by more photonic exciton polaritons exhibit dramatic reservoir-induced density filamentation and shot-to-shot fluctuations. In contrast, condensates of more excitonic quasiparticles display smooth density and are second-order coherent. Our observations show that the single-shot measurements offer a unique opportunity to study formation of macroscopic phase coherence during a quantum phase transition in a solid state system.
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In this work, we study the exciton-polariton condensate phase transition in a microcavity matter-light system in which electron-hole Coulomb interaction and matter-light coupling effects are treated on an equal footing. In the framework of the unrestricted Hartree-Fock approximation applying the two-dimensional exciton-polariton model, we derive the self-consistent equations determining simultaneously the excitonic and the photonic condenstate order parameters. In the thermal-equilibrium limit, we find a condensed state of the exciton-polariton systems and phase diagrams are then constructed. At a given low temperature, the condensate by its nature shows a crossover from an excitonic to a polaritonic and finally photonic condensed state as the excitation density increases at large detuning. Without the detuning, the excitonic condensed state disappears whereas the polaritonic or photonic phases dominate. The crossover is also found by lowering the Coulomb interaction at a finite matter-light coupling. Lowering the Coulomb interaction or increasing the temperature, the excitonic Mott transition occurs, at which the exciton-polariton condensates dissociate to free electron-hole/photon. Depending on temperature and excitation density, the phase transition of the exciton-polariton condensates is also addressed in signatures of photoluminescence mapping to the photonic momentum distribution.