Nonlinear quantum optics with trion-polaritons in 2D monolayers: conventional and unconventional photon blockade

TL;DR

This paper develops a quantum theory for trion-polaritons in 2D monolayers, revealing their strong nonlinear optical response and potential for single photon emission, advancing quantum polaritonics in 2D materials.

Contribution

It introduces a full quantum model for trion-polaritons, demonstrating their nonlinear behavior and feasibility for single photon sources in 2D monolayer semiconductors.

Findings

Strong nonlinear optical response at few-quanta levels.

Existence of two regimes of photon antibunching.

Feasibility of single photon emission in TMD setups.

Abstract

We study a 2D system of trion-polaritons at the quantum level and demonstrate that for monolayer semiconductors they can exhibit a strongly nonlinear optical response. The effect is due to the composite nature of trion-based excitations resulting in their nontrivial quantum statistical properties, and enhanced phase space filling effects. We present the full quantum theory to describe the statistics of trion-polaritons, and demonstrate that the associated nonlinearity persists at the level of few quanta, where two qualitatively different regimes of photon antibunching are present for weak and strong single photon-trion coupling. We find that single photon emission from trion-polaritons becomes experimentally feasible in state-of-the-art transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) setups. This can foster the development of quantum polaritonics using 2D monolayers as a material platform.