Quantum Vortex Formation in the "Rotating Bucket'' Experiment with Polariton Condensates

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the creation of quantized vortices in a polariton Bose-Einstein condensate using a rotating optical excitation, enabling studies of superfluidity and optical control of nonlinear light.

Contribution

It introduces a novel optical method to induce and study vortex formation in polariton condensates, advancing superfluid research with light-based control.

Findings

Quantized vortices form at specific stirring frequencies (1-4 GHz).

The phenomenology is described using the generalized Gross-Pitaevskii equation.

The method enables deterministic, all-optical control of structured nonlinear light.

Abstract

The appearance of quantised vortices in the classical ``rotating bucket'' experiments of liquid helium and ultracold dilute gases provides the means for fundamental and comparative studies of different superfluids. Here, we realize the ``rotating bucket'' experiment for optically trapped quantum fluid of light based on exciton-polariton Bose-Einstein condensate in semiconductor microcavity. We utilise the beating note of two frequency-stabilized single-mode lasers to generate an asymmetric time-periodic rotating, non-resonant excitation profile that both injects and stirs the condensate through its interaction with a background exciton reservoir. The pump-induced external rotation of the condensate results in the appearance of a co-rotating quantised vortex. We investigate the rotation-frequency dependence and reveal the range of stirring frequencies (from 1 to 4 GHz) which favors quantised vortex formation. We describe the phenomenology using the generalised Gross-Pitaevskii equation. Our results enable the study of polariton superfluidity on a par with other superfluids, as well as deterministic, all-optical control over structured nonlinear light.