I. G. Savenko

Spatial coherence properties of one dimensional exciton-polariton condensates

In this work, we combine a systematic experimental investigation of the power- and temperature-dependent evolution of the spatial coherence function, g^{(1)}(r), in a one dimensional exciton-polariton channel with a modern microscopic numerical theory based on a stochastic master equation approach. The spatial coherence function g^{(1)}(r) is extracted via high-precision Michelson interferometry, which allows us to demonstrate that in the regime of nonresonant excitation, the dependence g^{(1)}(r) reaches a saturation value with a plateau, which is determined by the intensity of the pump and effective temperature of the crystal lattice. The theory, which was extended to allow for treating incoherent excitation in a stochastic frame, matches the experimental data with good qualitative and quantitative agreement. This allows us to verify the prediction that the decay of the off-diagonal long-range order can be almost fully suppressed in one dimensional condensate systems.

Asymmetric quantum dot in a microcavity as a nonlinear optical element.

We have investigated theoretically the interaction between individual quantum dot with broken inversion symmetry and electromagnetic field of a single-mode quantum microcavity. It is shown that in the strong coupling regime the system demonstrates nonlinear optical properties and can serve as emitter of the terahertz radiation at Rabi frequency of the system. Analytical results for simplest physical situations are obtained and numerical quantum approach for calculating emission spectrum is developed.

Lasing in Bose-Fermi mixtures

Light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation, well-known for revolutionising photonic science, has been realised primarily in fermionic systems including widely applied diode lasers. The prerequisite for fermionic lasing is the inversion of electronic population, which governs the lasing threshold. More recently, bosonic lasers have also been developed based on Bose-Einstein condensates of exciton-polaritons in semiconductor microcavities. These electrically neutral bosons coexist with charged electrons and holes. In the presence of magnetic fields, the charged particles are bound to their cyclotron orbits, while the neutral exciton-polaritons move freely. We demonstrate how magnetic fields affect dramatically the phase diagram of mixed Bose-Fermi systems, switching between fermionic lasing, incoherent emission and bosonic lasing regimes in planar and pillar microcavities with optical and electrical pumping. We collected and analyzed the data taken on pillar and planar microcavity structures at continuous wave and pulsed optical excitation as well as injecting electrons and holes electronically. Our results evidence the transition from a Bose gas to a Fermi liquid mediated by magnetic fields and light-matter coupling.

Stochastic Gross-Pitaevskii Equation for the Dynamical Thermalization of Bose-Einstein Condensates

We present a theory for the description of energy relaxation in a nonequilibrium condensate of bosonic particles. The approach is based on coupling to a thermal bath of other particles (e.g., phonons in a crystal, or noncondensed atoms in a cold atom system), which are treated with a Monte Carlo type approach. Together with a full account of particle-particle interactions, dynamic driving, and particle loss, this offers a complete description of recent experiments in which Bose-Einstein condensates are seen to relax their energy as they propagate in real space and time. As an example, we apply the theory to the solid-state system of microcavity exciton polaritons, in which nonequilibrium effects are particularly prominent.

Multivalley engineering in semiconductor microcavities

We consider exciton-photon coupling in semiconductor microcavities in which separate periodic potentials have been embedded for excitons and photons. We show theoretically that this system supports degenerate ground-states appearing at non-zero inplane momenta, corresponding to multiple valleys in reciprocal space, which are further separated in polarization corresponding to a polarization-valley coupling in the system. Aside forming a basis for valleytronics, the multivalley dispersion is predicted to allow for spontaneous momentum symmetry breaking and two-mode squeezing under non-resonant and resonant excitation, respectively.

Semiconductor Exciton-Polariton Lasers

Exciton-polariton lasers are operated in the strong light matter coupling regime. They promise low threshold operation since population inversion is not inherently necessary. Hence they are of great interest for next generation coherent light sources.

Spin transport in an Aharonov-Bohm ring with exchange interaction

We investigate spin-dependent conductance through a quantum Aharonov-Bohm ring containing localized electrons which interact with the propagating flow of electrons via exchange interaction of the ferromagnetic or antiferromagnetic type. We analyze the conductance oscillations as a function of both the chemical potential (particle concentration) and external magnetic field. It is demonstrated that the amplitude of the conductance oscillations in the ballistic regime is determined by the value of the noncompensated spin localized in the ring. The results are in agreement with the concept of fractional quantization of the ballistic conductance, proposed by us earlier [Phys. Rev. B 71, 113311 (2005)].

An Electrically Driven Polariton Laser

A new type of electrically pumped semiconductor laser has been demonstrated which promises an energy efficient laser operation: Recent achievements in the field of ‘polariton-laser’ development are presented and an outlook is given.

Electrically driven exciton-polariton lasers

Exciton-polaritons are hybrid light-matter quasiparticles. They are composite and interacting bosons which can condense dynamically in a single-particle ground state via stimulated scattering. The formation of exciton-polaritons under electrical pumping has been demonstrated in quasi two dimensional systems [1-3]. In this work, we discuss the non-linear polariton emission caused by stimulated scattering in micropillar cavities under electrical pumping [4]. We distinguish our polariton laser from a conventional cavity mediated laser by probing it in a magnetic field. While a characteristic Zeeman-splitting is present in the regime of polariton lasing [4,5], it is fully absent when the device enters the weak coupling regime.