Acoustically Triggered Optical Memories

Abstract

Hysteretic behavior of the photon emission by microcavity exciton-polaritons (MPs), optical bistability, provides the foundation for photonic memories, switches, and optical logic. Here, we demonstrate the control of bistable transitions in MPs confined in μm-sized intracavity traps by electrically generated single acoustic pulses. The studies were performed in arrays of confined MPs placed in an acoustic resonator and optically pumped in resonance below the condensation threshold. A short (μs-long) strain pulse applied to the MPs triggers the bistable transition from the subthreshold, low emission initial state to an optical parametric oscillator (OPO) condensate with high optical emission. Time-resolved studies reveal that the transition occurs during the buildup of the acoustic field in the resonator via a strain-induced reduction of the threshold for the OPO excitation. The MPs then remain in the final state for as long as the optical pump is supplied, demonstrating the bistability as well as memory retention. The robustness of the triggering approach is shown by the synchronous switching of arrays of confined MPs by a single acoustic pulse, thus, establishing the applicability of the concept for scalable on-chip optical memories in emerging applications such as classical and quantum polariton simulators.

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