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We report the fabrication of a single-mode solid-state single photon source, based on an isolated InAs quantum dot (QD) on resonance with the fundamental mode of a pillar microcavity. Photon correlation experiments under pulsed excitation reveal a clear antibunching behavior. We show that a preparation of the single photons in a given quantum state (same spatial mode, same polarization) can be obtained by placing a QD in resonance with the nondegenerate fundamental mode of an elliptical micropillar.

Cavity polaritons, the elementary optical excitations of semiconductor microcavities, may be understood as a superposition of excitons and cavity photons. Owing to their composite nature, these bosonic particles have a distinct optical response, at the same time very fast and highly nonlinear. Very efficient light amplification due to polariton-polariton parametric scattering has recently been reported in semiconductor microcavities at liquid-helium temperatures. Here we demonstrate polariton parametric amplification up to 120 K in GaAlAs-based microcavities and up to 220 K in CdTe-based microcavities. We show that the cut-off temperature for the amplification is ultimately determined by the binding energy of the exciton. A 5-micrometer-thick planar microcavity can amplify a weak light pulse more than 5,000 times. The effective gain coefficient of an equivalent homogeneous medium would be 107 cm-1. The subpicosecond duration and high efficiency of the amplification could be exploited for high-repetition all-optical microscopic switches and amplifiers. 105 polaritons occupy the same quantum state during the amplification, realizing a dynamical condensate of strongly interacting bosons which can be studied at high temperature.

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Extending the idea of optical microcavities to sound waves, we propose a phonon cavity consisting of two semiconductor superlattices enclosing a spacer layer. We show that acoustical phonons can be confined in such layered structures when the spacer thickness is an integer multiple of the acoustic half-wavelength at the center of one of the superlattice folded minigaps. We report Raman scattering experiments that, taking profit of an optical microcavity geometry, demonstrate unambiguously the observation of a phonon-cavity confined acoustical vibration in a GaAs/AlAs based structure. The experimental results compare precisely with photoelastic model calculations of the Raman spectra.