Giant optical nonlinearities from Rydberg-excitons in semiconductor microcavities

TL;DR

This paper proposes using Rydberg excitons in semiconductor microcavities to significantly enhance optical nonlinearities, enabling single-photon level nonlinear processes for quantum photonics.

Contribution

It introduces a method to vastly increase optical nonlinearities in semiconductor microcavities by exploiting Rydberg excitons, opening new possibilities for quantum photonics.

Findings

Optical nonlinearities can be enhanced by several orders of magnitude.

Nonlinear processes can be induced at the level of single photons.

Potential for scalable quantum photonic applications.

Abstract

The realization of exciton-polaritons -- hybrid excitations of semiconductor quantum well excitons and cavity photons -- has been of great technological and scientific significance. In particular, the short-range collisional interaction between excitons has enabled explorations into a wealth of nonequilibrium and hydrodynamical effects that arise in weakly nonlinear polariton condensates. Yet, the ability to enhance optical nonlinearities would enable quantum photonics applications and open up a new realm of photonic many-body physics in a scalable and engineerable solid-state environment. Here we outline a route to such capabilities in cavity-coupled semiconductors by exploiting the giant interactions between excitons in Rydberg-states. We demonstrate that optical nonlinearities in such systems can be vastly enhanced by several orders of magnitude and induce nonlinear processes at the level of single photons.