Polaritonic Bistability in Semiconductor Microcavities

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates polaritonic bistability in semiconductor microcavities caused by polariton interactions, supported by experimental results aligning with a nonlinear model, highlighting potential for optical switching applications.

Contribution

First observation of polaritonic bistability in semiconductor microcavities due to polariton interactions in the strong coupling regime.

Findings

Bistability observed experimentally in microcavities.

Bistability arises from polariton-polariton interactions.

Experimental results agree with a nonlinear theoretical model.

Abstract

We report the observation of polaritonic bistability in semiconductor microcavities in the strong coupling regime. The origin of bistability is the polariton-polariton interaction, which gives rise to a Kerr-like nonlinearity. The experimental results are in good agreement with a simple model taking transverse effects into account.