Dynamics of spin polarization in tilted polariton rings

Abstract

We have observed the effect of pseudo magnetic field originating from the polaritonic analog of spin-orbit coupling (TE−TM splitting) on a polariton condensate in a ring shaped microcavity. The effect gives rise to a stable four-leaf pattern around the ring as seen from the linear polarization measurements of the condensate photoluminescence. This pattern is found to originate from the interplay of the cavity potential, energy relaxation and TE-TM splitting in the ring. Our observations are compared to the dissipative one-dimensional spinor Gross-Pitaevskii equation with the TE-TM splitting energy which shows good qualitative agreement.

Steady-state theory of electron drag on polariton condensates

“…This is shown in the real-space, time-integrated spectra of the condensate moving to the right (positive x-direction) in the wire in Figures 3(d-f). In these simulations we assumed a long polariton lifetime (200 ps) consistent with the long polariton samples used in the recent experiments [15,23,[38][39][40]. The white dashed line in this figure outlines the potential energy felt by the polaritons in the wire.…”

Spin-orbital effect on polariton state in traps

“…To get better understanding of the effect of SOC on the low-energy levels it is convenient to derive the effective Hamiltonian for the quasi-1D angular motion of a polariton in the ring. This Hamiltonian can be particularly useful for the analysis of polariton condensation in the ring geometry, spontaneous azimuthal currents [47], formations of space-time periodic polarization patterns [24,35,48], and annular Josephson vortices [49,50]. The annular Hamiltonian can be obtained in adiabatic approximation by averaging over appropriate radial wave function.…”

“…In this case, the level crossing value γ c 0.019. For the TE-TM splitting parameter γ = 0.1, the distance to the first excited (m = 1) level is about 0.2 µeV, which is about an order of magnitude smaller than the dissipation broadening of the levels at the polariton lifetime τ ∼ 200 ps [35]. To improve level resolution it is necessary to increase localization in the radial direction.…”

“…To highlight the effects of SOC, the consideration is carried out neglecting dissipation, i.e., assuming infinite life-time of polaritons in the traps. This approximation is acceptable for ultra-high-quality microcavities [35,36], with the polariton lifetimes exceeding 100 ps.…”

“…The ground-state singlet is characterized by well-defined radial or azimuthal linear polarization. This effect turns out to be especially strong for polaritons trapped in the rings, and since this configuration has received much interest recently [31][32][33][34][35], the SOC for the motion of polaritons in the ring is studied in more details. To highlight the effects of SOC, the consideration is carried out neglecting dissipation, i.e., assuming infinite life-time of polaritons in the traps.…”