A Pair of 2D Quantum Liquids: Investigating the Phase Behavior of Indirect Excitons

TL;DR

This paper investigates the phase behavior of long-lived indirect excitons in 2D systems, using theoretical tools to clarify the nature of the observed phases and challenging the idea of a classical liquid phase.

Contribution

The study provides a comprehensive theoretical analysis of indirect exciton phases, identifying the condensed phase as a quantum electron-hole liquid rather than a classical liquid.

Findings

No evidence of classical condensation driven by thermal effects.

The condensed phase is attributed to a quantum electron-hole liquid.

Results align with recent experimental measurements in GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells.

Abstract

Long-lived indirect excitons (IXs) exhibit a rich phase diagram, including a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC), a Wigner crystal, and other exotic phases. Recent experiments have hinted at a new, "classical" liquid of IXs above the BEC transition. To uncover the nature of this phase, we use a broad range of theoretical tools and find no evidence of a driving force towards classical condensation. Instead, we attribute the condensed phase to a quantum electron-hole liquid (EHL), first proposed by Keldysh for direct excitons. Taking into account the association of free carriers into bound excitons, we study the phase equilibrium between a gas of excitons, a gas of free carriers, and an EHL for a wide range of electron-hole separations, temperatures, densities, and mass ratios. Our results agree reasonably well with recent measurements of GaAs/AlGaAs coupled quantum wells.