2016/08/24 by Fei Xue, Fengcheng Wu, Ming Xie +2
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Atomic physics #Condensed matter physics #Electron #Exciton #Mean field theory #Microscopic theory #Photon #Physics #Plasmonic and Surface Plasmon Research #Polariton #Quantum electrodynamics #Quantum mechanics #Quasiparticle #Scattering #Strong Light-Matter Interactions #Superconductivity #Thermal Radiation and Cooling Technologies #cond-mat.mes-hall
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevb.94.235302
published as Phys. Rev. B 94, 235302 (2016) · 8 pages, 7 figures. Comments are welcome
arxiv created 2016/08/24 · openalex publication_date 2016/12/02 · arxiv updated 2016/12/07 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Exciton-polariton condensates have been realized by illuminating a microcavity system containing 2D quantum wells. When the polariton scattering rates exceed polariton lifetimes, the polariton condensate states can be described microscopically using equilibrium statistical mechanics. This work describes a fully microscopic mean-field theory of equilibrium polariton condensates that treats quantum well band states explicitly and goes beyond the commonly used model in which excitons are treated as Bose particles that are coupled to cavity photons. The authors compare their results with the predictions of simplified bosonic theory, and explain the quantitative differences in condensate properties. Their theory predicts that effective polariton-polariton interaction strengths are weaker and that exciton-fractions in the condensate are smaller than in the simplified exciton-photon model, and that the effective Rabi coupling strengths depends on detuning. The quasiparticle bands that appear in their theory are dressed by both electron-electron and electron-photon interactions, with the electron-electron contribution dominating even when the photon fraction of the condensate is relatively large. The properties of the dressed bands suggest novel mechanisms for the electrical manipulation of polariton condensates.