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Physical review. B, Condensed matter

Quantum theory of an exciton condensate subject to radiative decay

P. Stenius

Published Nov 15, 1999• 4 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Semiconductor excitons obey Bose-Einstein statistics in the low-density limit. In this paper, a two-level quantum model for an exciton condensate subject to radiative decay is presented. The condensate state has a well-defined exciton number and a slow phase diffusion rate analogous to a coherent state created by a (photon) laser. Since excitons recombine radiatively, the statistics of the device can be observed by photodetection. Our analytical and numerical results at steady state reveal that the change in population statistics of the ground state is gradual across the threshold region, above which a condensate forms. When radiative losses are present, the condensate mode is ``quasicoherent;'' in the limit of no losses a coherent state is approached. Far below threshold the ground state is well described by a thermal distribution. The higher level, that is the ``pump,'' remains thermally distributed at all times.

DOI
10.1103/physrevb.60.14072

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Semiconductor excitons obey Bose-Einstein statistics in the low-density limit. In this paper, a two-level quantum model for an exciton condensate subject to radiative decay is presented. The condensate state has a well-defined exciton number and a slow phase diffusion rate analogous to a coherent state created by a (photon) laser. Since excitons recombine radiatively, the statistics of the device can be observed by photodetection. Our analytical and numerical results at steady state reveal that the change in population statistics of the ground state is gradual across the threshold region, above which a condensate forms. When radiative losses are present, the condensate mode is quasicoherent;'' in the limit of no losses a coherent state is approached. Far below threshold the ground state is well described by a thermal distribution. The higher level, that is the pump,'' remains thermally distributed at all times.
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Quasiequilibrium relaxational thermodynamics is developed to understand LA-phonon-assisted thermalization of Bose-Einstein distributed excitons in quantum wells. We study quantum-statistical effects in the relaxational dynamics of the effective temperature of excitons T=T(t).T=T(t).T=T(t). When T is less than the degeneracy temperature T0,{T}_{0},T0​, well-developed Bose-Einstein statistics of quantum-well excitons leads to nonexponential and density-dependent thermalization. At low bath temperatures ${T}_{b}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}0,$ the thermalization of quantum statistically degenerate excitons effectively slows down and $T(t)\ensuremath{\propto}1/\mathrm{ln}t.$ We also analyze the optical decay of Bose-Einstein distributed excitons in perfect quantum wells, and show how nonclassical statistics influences the effective lifetime ${\ensuremath{\tau}}_{\mathrm{opt}}.$ In particular, ${\ensuremath{\tau}}_{\mathrm{opt}}$ of a strongly degenerate gas of excitons is given by $2{\ensuremath{\tau}}_{R},$ where ${\ensuremath{\tau}}_{R}$ is the intrinsic radiative lifetime of quasi-two-dimensional excitons. Kinetics of resonant photoluminescence of quantum-well excitons during their thermalization is studied within the thermodynamic approach and taking into account Bose-Einstein statistics. We find density-dependent photoluminescence dynamics of statistically degenerate excitons. Numerical modeling of the thermalization and photoluminescence kinetics of quasi-two-dimensional excitons are given for ${\mathrm{G}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{A}\mathrm{s}/\mathrm{A}\mathrm{l}}_{x}{\mathrm{Ga}}_{1\ensuremath{-}x}\mathrm{As}$ quantum wells.
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.
The collective decay of excitons from initial Bose-Einstein condensate state is investigated theoretically. As a practically more interesting case we consider excitons of the yellow series in the semiconductor cuprous oxide where we have collective photon and phonon-assisted decay of excitons. It is shown that because of intrinsic instability of recoilless two-boson decay of Bose-Einstein condensate, the spontaneously emitted bosonic pairs are amplified, leading to an exponential buildup of a macroscopic population into the certain modes. The collective decay rate has a nonlinear dependence on the excitonic density being comparable or larger than the Auger recombination loss rate up to the high densities, which makes obtainable its observation. The phenomenon considered can also be applied for the realization of a phonon laser.
A full quantum theory beyond the mean-field regime is developed for an exciton-polariton condensate, for a complete understanding of quantum fluctuations. We find an analytical solution for the polariton density matrix, showing the nonlinearity causing fast relaxation correlated with the pump so as to yield the quantum condensation above threshold. Increasing the pump intensity, a nonequilibrium phase transition towards the condensation of the lower polaritons emerges, with a statistics transiting from a thermal, through a super-Poissonian, and towards a nonclassical distribution; the latter two possess off-diagonal long-range order but the last one is beyond. The results signify the role of dark states for polariton fluctuations, and lead to a nonclassical counting statistics of emitted photons, which elaborates the role of the key parameters, e.g., pump, detuning, and temperature.