Time-resolved vacuum Rabi oscillations in a semiconductor quantum microcavity

Molecular Polaritonics: Chemical Dynamics Under Strong Light-Matter Coupling

Chemical manifestations of strong light-matter coupling have recently been a subject of intense experimental and theoretical studies. Here we review the present status of this field. Section 1 is an introduction to molecular polaritonics and to collective response aspects of light-matter interactions. Section 2 provides an overview of the key experimental observations of these effects, while Section 3 describes our current theoretical understanding of the effect of strong light-matter coupling on chemical dynamics. A brief outline of applications to energy conversion processes is given in Section 4. Pending technical issues in the construction of theoretical approaches are briefly described in Section 5. Finally, the summary in Section 6 outlines the paths ahead in this exciting endeavor. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Physical Chemistry, Volume 73 is April 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

Anisotropy and Controllable Band Structure in Suprawavelength Polaritonic Metasurfaces

In this Letter, we exploit the extended coherence length of mixed plasmon-exciton states to generate active metasurfaces. For this purpose, periodic stripes of organic dye are deposited on a continuous silver film. Typical metasurface effects, such as effective behavior and geometry sensitivity, are measured for periods exceeding the polaritonic wavelength by more than one order of magnitude. By adjusting the metasurface geometry, anisotropy, modified band structure, and unidimensional polaritons are computationally simulated and experimentally observed in reflectometry as well as in emission.

Modified relaxation dynamics and coherent energy exchange in coupled vibration-cavity polaritons

Coupling vibrational transitions to resonant optical modes creates vibrational polaritons shifted from the uncoupled molecular resonances and provides a convenient way to modify the energetics of molecular vibrations. This approach is a viable method to explore controlling chemical reactivity. In this work, we report pump–probe infrared spectroscopy of the cavity-coupled C–O stretching band of W(CO)₆ and the direct measurement of the lifetime of a vibration-cavity polariton. The upper polariton relaxes 10 times more quickly than the uncoupled vibrational mode. Tuning the polariton energy changes the polariton transient spectra and relaxation times. We also observe quantum beats, so-called vacuum Rabi oscillations, between the upper and lower vibration-cavity polaritons. In addition to establishing that coupling to an optical cavity modifies the energy-transfer dynamics of the coupled molecules, this work points out the possibility of systematic and predictive modification of the excited-state kinetics of vibration-cavity polariton systems.

Vibration-cavity polaritons are mixed states produced by strong coupling between a vibrational mode and an optical cavity. Here, the authors show that these polaritons can coherently exchange energy and exhibit drastically altered transient spectra and dynamics compared to uncoupled vibrations.

Exciton Lifetime Paradoxically Enhanced by Dissipation and Decoherence: Toward Efficient Energy Conversion of a Solar Cell

Energy dissipation and decoherence are at first glance harmful to acquiring the long exciton lifetime desired for efficient photovoltaics. In the presence of both optically forbidden (namely, dark) and allowed (bright) excitons, however, they can be instrumental, as suggested in photosynthesis. By simulating the quantum dynamics of exciton relaxations, we show that the optimized decoherence that imposes a quantum-to-classical crossover with the dissipation realizes a dramatically longer lifetime. In an example of a carbon nanotube, the exciton lifetime increases by nearly 2 orders of magnitude when the crossover triggers a stable high population in the dark excitons.

Dynamical Fano-Like Interference between Rabi Oscillations and Coherent Phonons in a Semiconductor Microcavity System

We report on dynamical interference between short-lived Rabi oscillations and long-lived coherent phonons in CuCl semiconductor microcavities resulting from the coupling between the two oscillations. The Fourier-transformed spectra of the time-domain signals obtained from semiconductor microcavities by using a pump-probe technique show that the intensity of the coherent longitudinal optical phonon of CuCl is enhanced by increasing that of the Rabi oscillation, which indicates that the coherent phonon is driven by the Rabi oscillation through the Fröhlich interaction. Moreover, as the Rabi oscillation frequency decreases upon crossing the phonon frequency, the spectral profile of the coherent phonon changes from a peak to a dip with an asymmetric structure. The continuous wavelet transformation reveals that these peak and dip structures originate from constructive and destructive interference between Rabi oscillations and coherent phonons, respectively. We demonstrate that the asymmetric spectral structures in relation to the frequency detuning are well reproduced by using a classical coupled oscillator model on the basis of dynamical Fano-like interference.

Exciton-photon correlations in bosonic condensates of exciton-polaritons

Exciton-polaritons are mixed light-matter quasiparticles. We have developed a statistical model describing stochastic exciton-photon transitions within a condensate of exciton polaritons. We show that the exciton-photon correlator depends on the rate of incoherent exciton-photon transformations in the condensate. We discuss implications of this effect for the quantum statistics of photons emitted by polariton lasers.

Ultrafast laser-driven Rabi oscillations of a trapped atomic vapor

We consider the Rabi oscillation of an atom ensemble of Gaussian spatial distribution interacting with ultrafast laser pulses. Based on an analytical model calculation, we show that its dephasing dynamics is solely governed by the size ratio between the atom ensemble and the laser beam, and that every oscillation peak of the inhomogeneously broadened Rabi flopping falls on the homogeneous Rabi oscillation curve. The results are verified experimentally with a cold rubidium vapor in a magneto-optical trap. As a robust means to achieve higher-fidelity population inversion of the atom ensemble, we demonstrate a spin-echo type R(x)(π/2)R(y)(π)R(x)(π/2) composite interaction as well.

Strong coupling between surface plasmon polaritons and emitters: a review

In this review we look at the concepts and state-of-the-art concerning the strong coupling of surface plasmon-polariton modes to states associated with quantum emitters such as excitons in J-aggregates, dye molecules and quantum dots. We explore the phenomenon of strong coupling with reference to a number of examples involving electromagnetic fields and matter. We then provide a concise description of the relevant background physics of surface plasmon polaritons. An extensive overview of the historical background and a detailed discussion of more recent relevant experimental advances concerning strong coupling between surface plasmon polaritons and quantum emitters is then presented. Three conceptual frameworks are then discussed and compared in depth: classical, semi-classical and fully quantum mechanical; these theoretical frameworks will have relevance to strong coupling beyond that involving surface plasmon polaritons. We conclude our review with a perspective on the future of this rapidly emerging field, one we are sure will grow to encompass more intriguing physics and will develop in scope to be of relevance to other areas of science.

Ultrafast Control and Rabi Oscillations of Polaritons

We report the experimental observation and control of space and time-resolved light-matter Rabi oscillations in a microcavity. Our setup precision and the system coherence are so high that coherent control can be implemented with amplification or switching off of the oscillations and even erasing of the polariton density by optical pulses. The data are reproduced by a quantum optical model with excellent accuracy, providing new insights on the key components that rule the polariton dynamics.

Proposed quenching of phonon-induced processes in photoexcited quantum dots due to electron-hole asymmetries

Differences in the confinement of electrons and holes in quantum dots are shown to profoundly impact the magnitude of scattering with acoustic phonons. Using an extensive model that includes the non-Markovian nature of the phonon reservoir, we show how the effect may be addressed by photoluminescence excitation spectroscopy of a single quantum dot. We also investigate the implications for cavity QED, i.e., a coupled quantum dot-cavity system, and demonstrate that the phonon scattering may be strongly quenched. The quenching is explained by a balancing between the deformation potential interaction strengths and the carrier confinement and depends on the quantum dot shape. Numerical examples suggest a route towards engineering the phonon scattering.

Fast excitation and photon emission of a single-atom-cavity system

We report on the fast excitation of a single atom coupled to an optical cavity using laser pulses that are much shorter than all other relevant processes. The cavity frequency constitutes a control parameter that allows the creation of single photons in a superposition of two tunable frequencies. Each photon emitted from the cavity thus exhibits a pronounced amplitude modulation determined by the oscillatory energy exchange between the atom and the cavity. Our technique constitutes a versatile tool for future quantum networking experiments.

Theory of resonant rayleigh scattering from semiconductor microcavities: signatures of disorder

We develop a self-consistent, microscopic theory of coherent resonant secondary emission from semiconductor microcavities in the normal-mode-coupling regime. Our theory provides a quantitative description of the spectral, temporal, and angular properties of the disorder-induced emission component-resonant Rayleigh scattering-and offers an intuitive physical explanation of emission properties.

Three coupled oscillators: normal mode coupling in a microcavity with two different quantum wells

GaAs/AlAs microcavities containing two different quantum wells have been grown and their normal mode coupling studied. We present experimental results that exhibit three-dip reflectivity spectra characteristic of three coupled oscillators. A theoretical model based on a nonlocal dielectric response and a transfer matrix method is used to model the microcavities and yields good agreement with experiment.