Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) has been observed in a dilute gas of sodium atoms. A Bose-Einstein condensate consists of a macroscopic population of the ground state of the system, and is a coherent state of matter. In an ideal gas, this phase transition is purely quantum-statistical. The study of BEC in weakly interacting systems which can be controlled and observed with precision holds the promise of revealing new macroscopic quantum phenomena that can be understood from first principles.

Bose-Einstein condensation in a gas of sodium atoms

Physical Review B

This article reviews recent theoretical and experimental advances in the fundamental understanding and active control of quantum fluids of light in nonlinear optical systems. In the presence of effective photon-photon interactions induced by the optical nonlinearity of the medium, a many-photon system can behave collectively as a quantum fluid with a number of novel features stemming from its intrinsically nonequilibrium nature. A rich variety of recently observed photon hydrodynamical effects is presented, from the superfluid flow around a defect at low speeds, to the appearance of a Mach-Cherenkov cone in a supersonic flow, to the hydrodynamic formation of topological excitations such as quantized vortices and dark solitons at the surface of large impenetrable obstacles. While the review is mostly focused on a specific class of semiconductor systems that have been extensively studied in recent years (planar semiconductor microcavities in the strong light-matter coupling regime having cavity polaritons as elementary excitations), the very concept of quantum fluids of light applies to a broad spectrum of systems, ranging from bulk nonlinear crystals, to atomic clouds embedded in optical fibers and cavities, to photonic crystal cavities, to superconducting quantum circuits based on Josephson junctions. The conclusive part of the article is devoted to a review of the future perspectives in the direction of strongly correlated photon gases and of artificial gauge fields for photons. In particular, several mechanisms to obtain efficient photon blockade are presented, together with their application to the generation of novel quantum phases.

Quantum fluids of light

Journal of Scientific Instruments Editor: Dr H R Lang Vol 28 and Supplement No 1, 1951 Pp xvi + 388 + iii + 80 (London: Institute of Physics, 1951) Bound, £3 12s; unbound, £3

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A Review of Scientific Instruments

Spintronics refers commonly to phenomena in which the spin of electrons in a solid state environment plays the determining role In a more narrow sense spintronics is an emerging research field of electronics: spintronics devices are based on a spin control of electronics, or on an electrical and optical control of spin or magnetism This review presents selected themes of semiconductor spintronics, introducing important concepts in spin transport, spin injection, Silsbee-Johnson spin-charge coupling, and spindependent tunneling, as well as spin relaxation and spin dynamics The most fundamental spin-dependent nteraction in nonmagnetic semiconductors is spin-orbit coupling Depending on the crystal symmetries of the material, as well as on the structural properties of semiconductor based heterostructures, the spin-orbit coupling takes on different functional forms, giving a nice playground of effective spin-orbit Hamiltonians The effective Hamiltonians for the most relevant classes of materials and heterostructures are derived here from realistic electronic band structure descriptions Most semiconductor device systems are still theoretical concepts, waiting for experimental demonstrations A review of selected proposed, and a few demonstrated devices is presented, with detailed description of two important classes: magnetic resonant tunnel structures and bipolar magnetic diodes and transistors In most cases the presentation is of tutorial style, introducing the essential theoretical formalism at an accessible level, with case-study-like illustrations of actual experimental results, as well as with brief reviews of relevant recent achievements in the field

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Semiconductor Spintronics

The magnetic state of a single magnetic ion (Mn2+) embedded in an individual quantum dot is optically probed using microspectroscopy. The fine structure of a confined exciton in the exchange field of a single Mn2+ ion (S=5/2) is analyzed in detail. The exciton-Mn2+ exchange interaction shifts the energy of the exciton depending on the Mn2+ spin component and six emission lines are observed at zero magnetic field. Magneto-optic measurements reveal that the emission intensities in both circular polarizations are controlled by the Mn2+ spin distribution imposed by the exchange interaction with the exciton, the magnetic field, and an effective manganese temperature which depends on both the lattice temperature and the density of photocreated carriers. Under magnetic field, the electron-Mn interaction induces a mixing of the bright and dark exciton states.

Probing the spin state of a single magnetic ion in an individual quantum dot.

Quantized vortices appear in quantum gases at the breakdown of superfluidity. In liquid helium and cold atomic gases, they have been indentified as the quantum counterpart of turbulence in classical fluids. In the solid state, composite light‐matter bosons known as exciton polaritons have enabled studies of non-equilibrium quantum gases and superfluidity. However, there has been no experimental evidence of hydrodynamic nucleation of polariton vortices so far. Here we report the experimental study of a polariton fluid flowing past an obstacle and the observation of nucleation of quantized vortex pairs in the wake of the obstacle. We image the nucleation mechanism and track the motion of the vortices along the flow. The nucleation conditions are established in terms of local fluid density and velocity measured on the obstacle perimeter. The experimental results are successfully reproduced by numerical simulations based on the resolution of the Gross‐Pitaevskii equation. H ydrodynamic instabilities in classical fluids were studied in the pioneering experiments of BOnard in the 1910’s. Convective BOnardRayleigh flows and BOnardVon KAErmAEn streets are now well known examples in nonlinear and chaos sciences 1 . In conventional fluids, the flow around an obstacle is characterized by the dimensionless Reynolds number ReD vR= , withv and the fluid velocity and dynamical viscosity, respectively, and R the diameter of the obstacle. When increasing the Reynolds number, laminar flow, stationary vortices, BOnardVon KAErmAEn streets of moving vortices and fully turbulent regimes are successively observed in the wake of the obstacle 1 .

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Hydrodynamic nucleation of quantized vortex pairs in a polariton quantum fluid

Coherent manipulation of spin ensembles is a key issue in the development of spintronics. In particular, multivalued spin switching may lead to new schemes of logic gating and memories. This phenomenon has been studied with atom vapours 30 years ago, but is still awaited in the solid state. Here, we demonstrate spin multistability with microcavity polaritons in a trap. Owing to the spinor nature of these light-matter quasiparticles and to the anisotropy of their interactions, we can optically control the spin state of a single confined level by tuning the excitation power, frequency and polarization. First, we realize high-efficiency power-dependent polarization switching. Then, at constant excitation power, we evidence polarization hysteresis and determine the conditions for realizing multivalued spin switching. Finally, we demonstrate an unexpected regime, where our system behaves as a high-contrast spin trigger. These results open new pathways to the development of advanced spintronics devices and to the realization of multivalued logic circuits.

Multistability of a coherent spin ensemble in a semiconductor microcavity

We analyze the optical emission of single II-VI quantum dots containing 0 or 1 magnetic atom (manganese) and a controlled number of carriers (0, $\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}1$ electron). The emission of these quantum dots presents a large degree of linear polarization. This linear polarization is attributed to a valence-band mixing and we show that in nonmagnetic quantum dots combining both a shape anisotropy and an anisotropic in-plane strain distribution, the linear polarization direction of the exciton are controlled by an interplay between valence-band mixing and electron-hole (e-h) exchange interaction. Similarly, under strong transverse magnetic field, the direction of the linearly polarized emission of the charged excitons is simultaneously controlled by the valence-band mixing and the direction of the magnetic field. In quantum dots containing a Mn atom, the valence-band mixing allows simultaneous hole-Mn spin flips coupling bright and dark excitons. These spin flips are responsible for linearly polarized transitions in the emission of the charged excitons at zero magnetic field.

Valence-band mixing in neutral, charged, and mn-doped self-assembled quantum dots

We report on the reversible electrical control of the magnetic properties of a single Mn atom in an individual quantum dot. Our device permits us to prepare the dot in states with three different electric charges, 0, $+1e$, and $\ensuremath{-}1e$ which result in dramatically different spin properties, as revealed by photoluminescence. Whereas in the neutral configuration the quantum dot is paramagnetic, the electron-doped dot spin states are spin rotationally invariant and the hole-doped dot spins states are quantized along the growth direction.

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Yoan Léger

Papers

Probing the spin state of a single magnetic ion in an individual quantum dot.

Hydrodynamic nucleation of quantized vortex pairs in a polariton quantum fluid

Multistability of a coherent spin ensemble in a semiconductor microcavity

Valence-band mixing in neutral, charged, and mn-doped self-assembled quantum dots

Electrical Control of a Single Mn Atom in a Quantum Dot