All-optical beam steering using the polariton lighthouse effect

TL;DR

This paper presents a novel all-optical beam steering method using microcavity exciton-polaritons, enabling continuous 360-degree control of emission direction through laser polarization, combining theoretical and experimental insights.

Contribution

It introduces a new lighthouse-like emission effect in microcavities driven by optical parametric oscillation, with polarization-controlled beam steering.

Findings

Demonstrated 360-degree beam steering experimentally.

Established the lighthouse-like emission pattern theoretically.

Showed polarization as a control parameter for emission direction.

Abstract

We demonstrate theoretically and experimentally that a specifically designed microcavity driven in the optical parametric oscillation regime exhibits lighthouse-like emission, i.e., an emission focused around a single direction. Remarkably, the emission direction of this micro-lighthouse is continuously controlled by the linear polarization of the incident laser, and angular beam steering over \unit{360}{\degree} is demonstrated. Theoretically, this unprecedented effect arises from the interplay between the nonlinear optical response of microcavity exciton-polaritons, the difference in the subcavities forming the microcavity, and the rotational invariance of the device.