Multistable circular currents of polariton condensates trapped in ring potentials

TL;DR

This paper explores multistable polariton condensate solutions in ring potentials, revealing various stationary, oscillatory, and rotating states with different topological charges and complex dynamics.

Contribution

It introduces the formation of multistable ring-shaped solutions with varying topological charges and demonstrates complex oscillation and rotation behaviors in polariton condensates.

Findings

Multiple stable solutions with different topological charges identified.

Higher excited modes can be trapped in stronger potentials.

Complex oscillation and rotation dynamics observed with mode superpositions.

Abstract

We demonstrate the formation and trapping of different stationary solutions, oscillatory solutions, and rotating solutions of a polariton condensate in a planar semiconductor microcavity with a built-in ring-shaped potential well. Multistable ring shaped solutions are trapped in shallow potential wells. These solutions have the same ring shaped density distribution but different topological charges, corresponding to different orbital angular momentum (OAM) of the emitted light. For stronger confinement potentials, besides the fundamental modes, higher excited (dipole) modes can also be trapped. If two modes are excited simultaneously, their beating produces a complex oscillation and rotation dynamics. When the two modes have the same OAM, a double-ring solution forms for which the density oscillates between the inner and the outer ring. When the two modes have different OAM, a rotating solution with a crescent-shaped density and fractional OAM is created.