Spin-orbital effect on polariton state in traps

TL;DR

This paper explores how spin-orbital interactions influence the ground state and polarization structures of polaritons in traps, highlighting differences from electron behavior and effects of ring curvature.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed analysis of spin-orbital effects on polariton states in traps, including the derivation of a Hamiltonian for polaritons in a ring and the impact of curvature.

Findings

Polariton ground states can be non-degenerate with specific polarization structures.

Strong spin-orbital coupling leads to radial or azimuthal vortex states.

Ring traps with TE-TM splitting induce vorticity and polarization in ground states.

Abstract

I discuss similitude and differences of spin-orbital effects for electrons in quantum wells with the Rashba coupling and for polaritons in semiconductor microcavities with TE-TM splitting. Contrary to the case of electron, the ground state of polariton in the trap can be non-degenerate and can possess specific polarization structure. For the case of azimuthally symmetric trap and sufficiently strong spin-orbital coupling, the ground state is either radial or azimuthal vortex, depending on the sign of the coupling constant. The effect is strongly enhanced for polaritons trapped in a ring, where even weak TE-TM splitting results in formation of vorticity and definite polarization of the ground state. The Hamiltonian for quasi-1D motion of polaritons in the ring is derived and it is shown the the dispersion of polaritons depend qualitatively on the curvature of the ring.