Driven-dissipative confined polariton condensate under magnetic field

TL;DR

This study explores how magnetic fields influence exciton-polariton condensation in a high-quality micropillar cavity, revealing complex spin behaviors and deviations from expected thermalized system effects.

Contribution

It provides new insights into spin-dependent phenomena in polariton condensates under magnetic fields, highlighting non-monotonous Zeeman splitting and polarization behaviors.

Findings

Successive polariton condensation of each spin component at different thresholds

Non-monotonous variations of Zeeman splitting and circular polarization

Deviations from the spin Meissner effect predicted for thermalized systems

Abstract

We investigate exciton-polariton condensation under magnetic field in a single high-quality semiconductor micropillar cavity. We observe successive polariton condensation of each spin component for two distinct threshold powers. Pronounced and non-monotonous variations of both the Zeeman splitting and the circular polarization of the emission are measured across these two condensation thresholds. This unexpected behavior deeply deviates from the so-called spin Meissner effect predicted for a fully thermalized system. Our measurements can be understood in a kinetic approach taking into account spin-anisotropic interactions within the entire system: the polariton condensate and the cloud of uncondensed excitons.