Polariton condensates: a photonic platform for quantum simulation
Event details
| Date | 23.05.2014 |
| Hour | 14:15 |
| Speaker | Dr. Jacqueline Bloch, CNRS research director, Laboratoire de Photonique et de Nanostructures, LPN/CNRS, Marcoussis, France |
| Location | |
| Category | Conferences - Seminars |
More than twenty years after their discovery, cavity polaritons appear today as a fascinating system to study the physics of interacting bosons in the presence of dissipation. Moreover the use of nanotechnology allows full engineering of the potential geometry undergone by polaritons. Thus it becomes now possible to experimentally implement complex polariton Hamiltonians, a first step toward quantum simulation. In this seminar, I will illustrate these recent developments describing some experimental works performed on polariton condensates confined in microstructures, and manipulated in photonic circuits. I will show how the ballistic propagation properties of polariton condensates can be used to implement a variety of optically controlled polariton devices [1-2]: the example of a nonlinear resonant tunneling polariton diode will be addressed, a device very promising to reach the quantum regime of polariton blockade [1]. The very same device can be used to implement a sonic black hole for polaritons. The second part of the talk will be devoted to the physics of polaritons in lattices. I will discuss polariton condensation in a 1D periodic potential [3], as well as the observation of a fractal energy spectrum in a quasi-periodic structure [4]. Optical measurements
performed on a polaritonic 2D honeycomb lattice will be shown: Dirac cones and a flat band are directly revealed [5]. These examples highlight the great potential of semiconductor cavities as a new platform to investigate the physics of interacting bosons and realize quantum simulations.
References
[1] Realization of a double barrier resonant tunneling diode for cavity polaritons, H-.S. Nguyen et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 236601 (2013)
[2] All-optical phase modulation in a cavity-polariton Mach-Zehnder interferometer , C. Sturm et al., Nature Communications 5, 3278 (2014)
[3] Polariton condensation in solitonic gap states in a one-dimensional periodic potential, D. Tanese et al., Nature Communications 4, 1749 (2013)
[4] Fractal energy spectrum of a polariton gas in a Fibonacci quasi-periodic potential, D. Tanese, Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 146404 ( 2014)
[5] Direct observation of Dirac cones and a flatband in a honeycomb lattice for polaritons, T. Jacqmin et al., Phys Rev Lett 112, 116402 (2014)
performed on a polaritonic 2D honeycomb lattice will be shown: Dirac cones and a flat band are directly revealed [5]. These examples highlight the great potential of semiconductor cavities as a new platform to investigate the physics of interacting bosons and realize quantum simulations.
References
[1] Realization of a double barrier resonant tunneling diode for cavity polaritons, H-.S. Nguyen et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 236601 (2013)
[2] All-optical phase modulation in a cavity-polariton Mach-Zehnder interferometer , C. Sturm et al., Nature Communications 5, 3278 (2014)
[3] Polariton condensation in solitonic gap states in a one-dimensional periodic potential, D. Tanese et al., Nature Communications 4, 1749 (2013)
[4] Fractal energy spectrum of a polariton gas in a Fibonacci quasi-periodic potential, D. Tanese, Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 146404 ( 2014)
[5] Direct observation of Dirac cones and a flatband in a honeycomb lattice for polaritons, T. Jacqmin et al., Phys Rev Lett 112, 116402 (2014)
Links
Practical information
- Informed public
- Free
Organizer
- ICMP (Arnaud Magrez and Raphaël Butté)