Intersubband polariton -- LO phonon interaction in mid-infrared non-dispersive cavities: experimental demonstration of spontaneous scattering and perspectives towards polariton lasing

2025/09/17 by Paul Goulain (14405700), Mathieu Jeannin (6584780), Goulain, Paul +13
Physics and Astronomy · Engineering · #Strong Light-Matter Interactions #Thermal Radiation and Cooling Technologies #Mechanical and Optical Resonators

paper · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2509.13843

Abstract

We report experimental evidence of the interaction between intersubband polaritons and longitudinal optical phonons in non-dispersive mid-infrared cavities, under resonant optical injection. The light emission originating from spontaneous polariton-phonon scattering is observed at a frequency corresponding to an energy shift of one phonon below the pump frequency. Given the extremely low spontaneous scattering rate, we employ a custom-developed quantum mechanical model to numerically demonstrate the feasibility to stimulate such process using a pump-probe scheme. Based on this analysis, we identify a set of experimental conditions under which optical gain may be realized in a mid-infrared intersubband polaritonic system.

Citations

• THz ultra-strong light-matter coupling up to 200K with continuously-graded parabolic quantum wells
• Low intensity saturation of an ISB transition by a mid-IR quantum cascade laser
• Quantum fluids of light
• Circuit Quantum Electrodynamics
• Manipulating quantum entanglement with atoms and photons in a cavity

Related

• A quantum cascade phonon-polariton laser
• Ultrafast Intercavity Nonlinear Couplings between Polaritons
• Non-equilibrium Electrical Generation of Surface Phonon Polaritons
• Quantum stochastic theory of phonon scattering between polaritons
• Entangled Polariton States in the Visible and Mid-Infrared Spectral Ranges