Strong Exciton-photon Coupling Research Articles

A near-resonant excitation strategy to achieve ultra-low threshold GaN polariton lasing.

A near-resonant excitation strategy is proposed and implemented in a 4-µm-thick GaN microcavity to realize an exciton-polariton condensate/lasing with low threshold. Strong exciton-photon coupling is demonstrated, and polariton lasing is realized with an ultra-low threshold excitation power density of about 13.3 W/cm2 at room temperature. Such an ultra-low threshold is ascribed to the implementation of the near-resonant optical excitation strategy, which enables acceleration of the exciton and polariton relaxation and suppression of the heat generation in the cavity, thereby reducing the energy loss and enhance the cavity excitation efficiency.

Strong exciton-photon coupling in self-hybridized organic–inorganic lead halide perovskite microcavities

Abstract Controlling coherent light–matter interactions in semiconductor microcavities is at the heart of the next-generation solid-state polaritonic devices. Organic–inorganic hybrid perovskites are potential materials for room-temperature polaritonics owing to their high exciton oscillator strengths and large exciton binding energies. Herein, we report on strong exciton-photon coupling in the micro-platelet and micro-ribbon shaped methylammonium lead bromide single crystals. Owing to high crystallinity and large refractive index, the as-grown perovskite microcrystals serve as self-hybridized optical microcavities along different orientations due to their distinct physical dimensionalities. In this regard, the perovskite micro-platelet forms a simple Fabry–Perot microcavity in out-of-plane orientation, while the micro-ribbon functions as a Fabry–Perot type waveguide microcavity within the plane of the perovskite sample. Consequently, excitons in these microcavities strongly interact with their corresponding uncoupled cavity modes, yielding multimode exciton-polaritons with Rabi splitting energies ∼205 and 235 meV for micro-platelet and micro-ribbon geometry, respectively. Furthermore, micro-ribbon geometry displays Young’s double-slit-like interference patterns, which together with the numerical simulation readily reveals the parity and the mode order of the uncoupled cavity modes. Thus, our results not only shed light on strong exciton-photon coupling in various morphologies of methylammonium lead bromide microcrystals but also open an avenue for advanced polaritonic devices.

The Rise and Current Status of Polaritonic Photochemistry and Photophysics.

The interaction between molecular electronic transitions and electromagnetic fields can be enlarged to the point where distinct hybrid light-matter states, polaritons, emerge. The photonic contribution to these states results in increased complexity as well as an opening to modify the photophysics and photochemistry beyond what normally can be seen in organic molecules. It is today evident that polaritons offer opportunities for molecular photochemistry and photophysics, which has caused an ever-rising interest in the field. Focusing on the experimental landmarks, this review takes its reader from the advent of the field of polaritonic chemistry, over the split into polariton chemistry and photochemistry, to present day status within polaritonic photochemistry and photophysics. To introduce the field, the review starts with a general description of light-matter interactions, how to enhance these, and what characterizes the coupling strength. Then the photochemistry and photophysics of strongly coupled systems using Fabry-Perot and plasmonic cavities are described. This is followed by a description of room-temperature Bose-Einstein condensation/polariton lasing in polaritonic systems. The review ends with a discussion on the benefits, limitations, and future developments of strong exciton-photon coupling using organic molecules.

(Invited) Quantifying Long-Range Exciton Energy Transfer in Carbon Nanotube Polariton Microcavities

In Ref. 1 and at the Spring 2022 ECS B03 Symposium on Carbon Nanotubes, we reported on the long-range energy transfer of excitons from (6,5) to (7,5) carbon nanotubes across an insulating barrier in an optical microcavity, mediated by moderate and strong exciton-photon polariton coupling and measured via two-dimensional, white-light spectroscopy. This talk will present on the alternative use of nanotube-C60 photovoltaic devices embedded in microcavities to quantify the efficiency of this long-range energy transfer and the factors that affect it.[1] Energy cascades in donor-acceptor exciton-polaritons observed by ultrafast two-dimensional white-light spectroscopy, M. Son, Z.T. Armstrong, R.T Allen, A. Dhavamani, M.S. Arnold, M.T. Zanni, Nature Communications 13, 7305 (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-35046-2

Photonic transistor based on a coupled-cavity system with polaritons.

We investigate the transmission of probe fields in a coupled-cavity system with polaritons and propose a theoretical schema for realizing a polariton-based photonic transistor. When probe light passes through such a hybrid optomechanical device, its resonant point with Stokes or anti-Stokes scattered effects, intensity with amplification or attenuation effects, as well as group velocity with slow or fast light effects can be effectively controlled by another pump light. This controlling depends on the exciton-photon coupling and single-photon coupling. We also discover an asymmetric Fano resonance in transparency windows under the strong exciton-photon coupling, which is different from general symmetric optomechanically induced transparency. Our results open up exciting possibilities for designing photonic transistors, which may be useful for implementing polariton integrated circuits.

Optical Manipulation of Layer–Valley Coherence via Strong Exciton–Photon Coupling in Microcavities

AbstractCoherent control and manipulation of quantum degrees of freedom such as spins forms the basis of emerging quantum technologies. In this context, the robust valley degree of freedom and the associated valley pseudospin found in two‐dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides is a highly attractive platform. Valley polarization and coherent superposition of valley states have been observed in these systems even up to room temperature. Control of valley coherence is an important building block for the implementation of valley qubit. Large magnetic fields or high‐power lasers have been used in the past to demonstrate the control (initialization and rotation) of the valley coherent states. Here, the control of layer–valley coherence via strong coupling of valley excitons in bilayer WS2 to microcavity photons is demonstrated by exploiting the pseudomagnetic field arising in optical cavities owing to the transverse electric–transverse magnetic (TE–TM)mode splitting. The use of photonic structures to generate pseudomagnetic fields which can be used to manipulate exciton‐polaritons presents an attractive approach to control optical responses without the need for large magnets or high‐intensity optical pump powers.

Ultraviolet Exciton-Polariton Light-Emitting Diode in a ZnO Microwire Homojunction.

Low-dimensional ZnO, possessing well-defined side facets and optical gain properties, has emerged as a promising material to develop ultraviolet coherent light sources. However, the realization of electrically driven ZnO homojunction luminescence and laser devices is still a challenge due to the absence of a reliable p-type ZnO. Herein, the sample of p-type ZnO microwires doped by Sb (ZnO:Sb MWs) was synthesized individually. Subsequently, the p-type conductivity was examined using a single-MW field-effect transistor. Upon optical pumping, a ZnO:Sb MW showing a regular hexagonal cross-section and smooth sidewall facets can feature as an optical microcavity, which is evidenced by the achievement of whispering-gallery-mode lasing. By combining an n-type ZnO layer, a single ZnO:Sb MW homojunction light-emitting diode (LED), which exhibited a typical ultraviolet emission at a wavelength of 379.0 nm and a line-width of approximately 23.5 nm, was constructed. We further illustrated that strong exciton-photon coupling can occur in the as-constructed p-ZnO:Sb MW/n-ZnO homojunction LED by researching spatially resolved electroluminescence spectra, contributing to the exciton-polariton effect. Particularly, varying the cross-sectional dimensions of ZnO:Sb wires can further modulate the exciton-photon coupling strengths. We anticipate that the results can provide an effective exemplification to realize reliable p-type ZnO and tremendously promote the development of low-dimensional ZnO homojunction optoelectronic devices.

Quantitative Investigation of the Rate of Intersystem Crossing in the Strong Exciton-Photon Coupling Regime.

Strong interactions between excitons and photons lead to the formation of exciton-polaritons, which possess completely different properties compared to their constituents. The polaritons are created by incorporating a material in an optical cavity where the electromagnetic field is tightly confined. Over the last few years, the relaxation of polaritonic states has been shown to enable a new kind of energy transfer event, which is efficient at length scales substantially larger than the typical Förster radius. However, the importance of such energy transfer depends on the ability of the short-lived polaritonic states to efficiently decay to molecular localized states that can perform a photochemical process, such as charge transfer or triplet states. Here, we investigate quantitatively the interaction between polaritons and triplet states of erythrosine B in the strong coupling regime. We analyze the experimental data, collected mainly employing angle-resolved reflectivity and excitation measurements, using a rate equation model. We show that the rate of intersystem crossing from the polariton to the triplet states depends on the energy alignment of the excited polaritonic states. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that the rate of intersystem crossing can be substantially enhanced in the strong coupling regime to the point where it approaches the rate of the radiative decay of the polariton. In light of the opportunities that transitions from polaritonic to molecular localized states offer within molecular photophysics/chemistry and organic electronics, we hope that the quantitative understanding of such interactions gained from this study will aid in the development of polariton-empowered devices.

Anisotropic exciton–polaritons in 2D single-crystalline PEA2PbBr4 perovskites at room temperature

Two-dimensional (2D) single-crystalline perovskites are a suitable material for investigating the strong exciton–photon interaction due to the large exciton binding energy. Here, we grow high-quality 2D single-crystalline PEA2PbBr4 thin film in situ in between a pair of distributed Bragg reflectors and construct an anisotropic exciton–polariton microcavity. Clear evidence for strong exciton–photon coupling is observed and represented by a large coupling strength of 211.8 meV. The observed transverse electric–transverse magnetic splitting at the point where the in-plane wave vector is zero indicates crystal birefringence. The effective refractive indices for these two orthogonal polarization directions are derived to have a large difference, corresponding to a material index difference of 0.28, and then an in-plane refractive index ellipse is built for the material. This work shows that the 2D anisotropic perovskite microcavity can not only behave as a platform for characterizing the anisotropic properties of a material but also as a promising room-temperature polaritonic device.

Polariton lasing in AlGaN microring with GaN/AlGaN quantum wells

Microcavity polaritons are strongly interacting hybrid light–matter quasiparticles, which are promising for the development of novel light sources and active photonic devices. Here, we report polariton lasing in the UV spectral range in microring resonators based on GaN/AlGaN slab waveguides, with experiments carried out from 4 K up to room temperature. Stimulated polariton relaxation into multiple ring resonator modes is observed, which exhibit threshold-like dependence of the emission intensity with pulse energy. The strong exciton-photon coupling regime is confirmed by the significant reduction of the free spectral range with energy and the blueshift of the exciton–like modes with increasing pulse energy. Importantly, the exciton emission shows no broadening with power, further confirming that lasing is observed at electron–hole densities well below the Mott transition. Overall, our work paves the way toward the development of novel UV devices based on the high-speed slab waveguide polariton geometry operating up to room temperature with the potential to be integrated into complex photonic circuits.

Optical cavity-mediated exciton dynamics in photosynthetic light harvesting 2 complexes

Strong light-matter interaction leads to the formation of hybrid polariton states and alters the photophysical dynamics of organic materials and biological systems without modifying their chemical structure. Here, we experimentally investigated a well-known photosynthetic protein, light harvesting 2 complexes (LH2) from purple bacteria under strong coupling with the light mode of a Fabry-Perot optical microcavity. Using femtosecond pump probe spectroscopy, we analyzed the polariton dynamics of the strongly coupled system and observed a significant prolongation of the excited state lifetime compared with the bare exciton, which can be explained in terms of the exciton reservoir model. Our findings indicate the potential of tuning the dynamic of the whole photosynthetic unit, which contains several light harvesting complexes and reaction centers, with the help of strong exciton-photon coupling, and opening the discussion about possible design strategies of artificial photosynthetic devices.

Enhanced Cavity Optomechanics with Quantum-Well Exciton Polaritons.

Semiconductor microresonators embedding quantum wells can host tightly confined and mutually interacting excitonic, optical, and mechanical modes at once. We theoretically investigate the case where the system operates in the strong exciton-photon coupling regime, while the optical and excitonic resonances are parametrically modulated by the interaction with a mechanical mode. Owing to the large exciton-phonon coupling at play in semiconductors, we predict an enhancement of polariton-phonon interactions by 2 orders of magnitude with respect to mere optomechanical coupling: a near-unity single-polariton quantum cooperativity is within reach for current semiconductor resonator platforms. We further analyze how polariton nonlinearities affect dynamical backaction, modifying the capability to cool or amplify the mechanical motion.

Prediction of Strong Transversal s(TE) Exciton-Polaritons in C60 Thin Crystalline Films.

If an exciton and a photon can change each other’s properties, indicating that the regime of their strong bond is achieved, it usually happens in standard microcavity devices, where the large overlap between the ’confined’ cavity photons and the 2D excitons enable the hybridization and the band gap opening in the parabolic photonic branch (as clear evidence of the strong exciton–photon coupling). Here, we show that the strong light–matter coupling can occur beyond the microcavity device setup, i.e., between the ’free’ s(TE) photons and excitons. The s(TE) exciton–polariton is a polarization mode, which (contrary to the p(TM) mode) appears only as a coexistence of a photon and an exciton, i.e., it vanishes in the non-retarded limit (). We show that a thin fullerene C crystalline film (consisting of N C single layers) deposited on an AlO dielectric surface supports strong evanescent s(TE)-polarized exciton–polariton. The calculated Rabi splitting is more than meV for , with a tendency to increase with N, indicating a very strong photonic character of the exciton–polariton.

Interplay between Polaritonic and Molecular Trap States.

Strong exciton–photon coupling exhibits the possibility to modify the photophysical properties of organic molecules. This is due to the introduction of hybrid light–matter states, called polaritons, which have unique physical and optical properties. Those strongly coupled systems provide altered excited-state dynamics in comparison to the bare molecule case. In this study, we investigate the interplay between polaritonic and molecular trap states, such as excimers. The molecules used in this study show either prompt or delayed emission from trap states. For both cases, a clear dependency on the exciton–photon energy tuning was observed. Polaritonic emission gradually increased with a concurrent removal of aggregation-induced emission when the systems were tuned toward lower energies. For prompt emission, it is not clear whether the experimental results are best explained by a predominant relaxation toward the lower polariton after excitation or by a direct excimer to polariton transition. However, for the delayed emission case, trap states are formed on the initially formed triplet manifold, making it evident that an excimer-to-polariton transition has occurred. These results unveil the possibility to control the trap state population by creating a strongly coupled system, which may form a mitigation strategy to counteract detrimental trap states in photonic applications.

Femtosecond Dynamics of a Polariton Bosonic Cascade at Room Temperature.

Whispering gallery modes in a microwire are characterized by a nearly equidistant energy spectrum. In the strong exciton-photon coupling regime, this system represents a bosonic cascade: a ladder of discrete energy levels that sustains stimulated transitions between neighboring steps. Here, by using a femtosecond angle-resolved spectroscopic imaging technique, the ultrafast dynamics of polaritons in a bosonic cascade based on a one-dimensional ZnO whispering gallery microcavity are explicitly visualized. Clear ladder-form build-up processes from higher to lower energy branches of the polariton condensates are observed, which are well reproduced by modeling using rate equations. Remarkably, a pronounced superbunching feature, which could serve as solid evidence for bosonic cascades, is demonstrated by the measured second-order time correlation factor. In addition, the nonlinear polariton parametric scattering dynamics on a time scale of hundreds of femtoseconds are revealed. Our understandings pave the way toward ultrafast coherent control of polaritons at room temperature.

Exciton-Polaritons and Their Bose-Einstein Condensates in Organic Semiconductor Microcavities.

Exciton-polaritons are half-light, half-matter bosonic quasiparticles formed by strong exciton-photon coupling in semiconductor microcavities. These hybrid particles possess the strong nonlinear interactions of excitons and keep most of the characteristics of the underlying photons. As bosons, above a threshold density they can undergo Bose-Einstein condensation to a polariton condensate phase and exhibit a rich variety of exotic macroscopic quantum phenomena in solids. Recently, organic semiconductors have been considered as a promising material platform for these studies due to their room-temperature stability, good processability, and abundant photophysics and photochemistry. Herein, recent advances of exciton-polaritons and their Bose-Einstein condensates in organic semiconductor microcavities are summarized. First, the basic physics is introduced, and then their emerging applications are highlighted. The remaining questions are also discussed and a personal viewpoint about the potential directions for future research is given.

Environmentally stable one-dimensional copper halide based ultra-flexible composite film for low-cost X-ray imaging screens

Environmentally stable, low cost, large stokes shift, adjustable area and flexibility are basic factors to prepare scintillator films for their commercial application. Here, a low cost (∼3 $/g) room-temperature ligand-assisted reprecipitation method is used to synthesize one-dimensional crystal structure based on Rb2CuX3 (X = Br, Cl). Rb2CuBr3 exhibits quite high mass yield of 90% with high Photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) of 59.06%. Importantly, its bright blue emission (90 nm stokes shift) is consistent with the highest optical detection efficiency wavelength range of commercial SiPM. Further characterizations point out that such effective blue emission comes from the recombination of excitons rather than the defects or combination of electron-hole pairs. And the existing strong exciton-photon coupling is conducive to the formation of self-trapped excitons (STEs). Finally, uniform and adjustable area Rb2CuBr3-polystyrene composite films have been successfully obtained. It's fascinating that the films exhibit ultra-flexibility (unchanged performance after multiple bending of 400 times) and excellent stability (subtle attenuation after 30 days of storage in a harsh environment). As an X-ray imaging screen, it presents a sensitive scintillation response to X-ray signals with superior linearity with high-quality images. Therefore, our prepared Rb2CuBr3 scintillator shows great commercial prospects in the field of flexible X-ray detection.

Theoretical study on amplifying strong exciton–photon coupling based on surface plasmon in a hybridized perovskite nanowire-metal film-perovskite nanowire structure

We theoretically report a strong light–matter interaction in a sandwich structure composed of hybridized inorganic–organic perovskite nanowires, silica (SiO2) films and a silver (Ag) film. Surface plasmon effectively enhances the strong exciton–photon coupling strength of perovskite nanowires, which depends on reduction of effective mode volume and local field enhancement. By calculation, we find that the thicknesses of SiO2 and Ag films can affect the coupling strength. With the suitable thickness of SiO2 (5 nm) and Ag (30 nm) films, Rabi splitting can reach 319 meV, while without an Ag film Rabi splitting is only 270 meV. Furthermore, Rabi splitting shows a negative correlation with SiO2 film thickness within a limited range. Still, it has a nonlinear relation with Ag film thickness because the imaginary part of the effective index for the hybridized mode shows a nonlinear relation with Ag film thickness. Our structure provides suitable parameters for the experiment and has potential application in nano-lasers.

Polariton-assisted excitation energy channeling in organic heterojunctions

Exciton-polaritons are hybrid light-matter states resulting from strong exciton-photon coupling. The wave function of the polariton is a mixture of light and matter, enabling long-range energy transfer between spatially separated chromophores. Moreover, their delocalized nature, inherited from the photon component, has been predicted to enhance exciton transport. Here, we strongly couple an organic heterojunction consisting of energy/electron donor and acceptor materials to the same cavity mode. Using time-resolved spectroscopy and optoelectrical characterization, we show that the rate of exciton harvesting is enhanced with one order of magnitude and the rate of energy transfer in the system is increased two- to threefold in the strong coupling regime. Our results exemplify two means of efficiently channeling excitation energy to a heterojunction interface, where charge separation can occur. This study opens a new door to increase the overall efficiency of light harvesting systems using the tool of strong light-matter interactions.

Plasmonic enhancement of current-driven whispering gallery polariton device of single microwire based heterojunction via Rh nanocubes deposition

Strong exciton-polariton coupling formed in semiconductor micro/nanostructures can open up the possibilities for developing low-dimensional, ultralow-threshold sources of coherent light. In this work, a n-ZnO microwire/p-GaN heterostructure was constituted to achieve current-driven whispering gallery polariton light-emitting diode (LED). The single ZnO microwire with hexagon-shaped cross section, can induce a strong coupling between ZnO exciton and whispering gallery mode photon, leading to the formation of exciton-polaritons. By depositing rhodium nanocubes (RhNCs) on the ZnO microwire, light-emitting intensity of the polariton LED is significantly enhanced. More importantly, the coupling strength of exciton-polariton feature via the resulting Rabi splitting energy, is significantly increased up to 515 meV, which is much higher than that of the bare ZnO MW based LED (~ 400 meV). RhNCs with desired ultraviolet plasmons can facilitate strong coupling of exciton-polaritons in the as-fabricated LED, which further being proved through angle-resolved electroluminescence measurements. We expect that these results provide new avenues to achieve highly strong exciton-photon coupling strengths, and greatly promote the progress of fabricating ultralow threshold coherent light sources and nonlinear optoelectronic devices in the short-wavelengths.