Talbot effect for exciton-polaritons

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the observation of the Talbot effect in exciton-polariton condensates within semiconductor microcavities, revealing self-imaging patterns of coherent light-matter waves despite system losses.

Contribution

It provides the first experimental and theoretical demonstration of the Talbot effect for hybrid light-matter waves in a microstructured polariton system.

Findings

Talbot patterns persist over distances much larger than the mesa size.

The observed fringes mimic near-field diffraction of monochromatic waves.

The effect occurs despite the lossy nature of polariton systems.

Abstract

We demonstrate, experimentally and theoretically, a Talbot effect for hybrid light-matter waves -- exciton-polariton condensate formed in a semiconductor microcavity with embedded quantum wells. The characteristic 'Talbot carpet' is produced by loading the exciton-polariton condensate into a microstructured one dimensional periodic array of mesa traps, which creates an array of sources for coherent polariton flow in the plane of the quantum wells. The spatial distribution of the Talbot fringes outside the mesas mimics the near-field diffraction of a monochromatic wave on a periodic amplitude and phase grating with the grating period comparable to the wavelength. Despite the lossy nature of the polariton system, the Talbot pattern persists for distances exceeding the size of the mesas by an order of magnitude.