Nonlinear route to intrinsic Josephson oscillations in spinor cavity-polariton condensates

Abstract

The intrinsic Josephson effect is observed in a two-component polariton condensate in a strained planar microcavity under a resonant pulsed excitation such that only one of the two linearly polarized eigenstates is pumped from the outside. On reaching the threshold density, the polariton-polariton interaction involves a spontaneous breaking of the symmetry between spin-up and spin-down polaritons. As a result, the condensate acquires nearly circular polarization while the pump is strong and then passes to the Josephson oscillation regime since the pump weakens.