Journal ArticleDOI
Bose-Einstein condensation of exciton polaritons
Jacek Kasprzak,Maxime Richard,S. Kundermann,A. Baas,P. Jeambrun,Jonathan Keeling,Francesca Maria Marchetti,Marzena H. Szymańska,Régis André,Jl Staehli,Vincenzo Savona,Peter B. Littlewood,Benoit Deveaud,Le Si Dang +13 more
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TLDR
A comprehensive set of experiments giving compelling evidence for BEC of polaritons of bosonic quasi-particles are detailed, which indicate the spontaneous onset of a macroscopic quantum phase.Abstract:
Phase transitions to quantum condensed phases—such as Bose–Einstein condensation (BEC), superfluidity, and superconductivity—have long fascinated scientists, as they bring pure quantum effects to a macroscopic scale. BEC has, for example, famously been demonstrated in dilute atom gas of rubidium atoms at temperatures below 200 nanokelvin. Much effort has been devoted to finding a solid-state system in which BEC can take place. Promising candidate systems are semiconductor microcavities, in which photons are confined and strongly coupled to electronic excitations, leading to the creation of exciton polaritons. These bosonic quasi-particles are 109 times lighter than rubidium atoms, thus theoretically permitting BEC to occur at standard cryogenic temperatures. Here we detail a comprehensive set of experiments giving compelling evidence for BEC of polaritons. Above a critical density, we observe massive occupation of the ground state developing from a polariton gas at thermal equilibrium at 19 K, an increase of temporal coherence, and the build-up of long-range spatial coherence and linear polarization, all of which indicate the spontaneous onset of a macroscopic quantum phase. Bose–Einstein condensation (BEC), a form of matter first postulated in 1924, has famously been demonstrated in dilute atomic gases at ultra-low temperatures. Much effort is now being devoted to exploring solid-state systems in which BEC can occur. In theory semiconductor microcavities, where photons are confined and coupled to electronic excitations leading to the creation of polaritons, could allow BEC at standard cryogenic temperatures. Kasprzak et al. now present experiments in which polaritons are excited in such a microcavity. Above a critical polariton density, spontaneous onset of a macroscopic quantum phase occurs, indicating a solid-state BEC. BEC should also be possible at higher temperatures if coupling of light with solid excitations is sufficiently strong. Demokritov et al. have achieved just that, BEC at room temperature in a gas of magnons, which are a type of magnetic excitation. This paper presents a comprehensive set of experiments in which polaritons are excited in a semiconductor microcavity. Above a critical density of polaritons, massive occupation of the ground state at 19 K is observed and various pieces of experimental evidence point to a spontaneous onset of a macroscopic quantum phase.read more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
High-temperature phase transition in the coupled atom-light system in the presence of optical collisions
TL;DR: In this paper, the problem of photonic phase transition for the system of a two-level atomic ensemble interacting with a quantized single-mode electromagnetic field in the presence of optical collisions (OCs) is considered.
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Prethermalization in a quenched one-dimensional quantum fluid of light: Intrinsic limits to the coherent propagation of a light beam in a nonlinear optical fiber
TL;DR: In this article, the coherence properties of a laser beam after propagation along a one-dimensional lossless nonlinear optical waveguide were studied, and it was shown that the photon-photon interaction parameter undergoes two sudden jumps, resulting in a pair of quantum quenches of the system's Hamiltonian.
Journal ArticleDOI
Cavity polaritons with Rydberg blockade and long-range interactions
TL;DR: In this paper, it was shown that, in spite of the underlying repulsion in the subsystem of atomic excitations, saturability induces a broadband bunching of photons for two-polariton scattering states.
Journal ArticleDOI
Hyperbolic Bloch equations: Atom-cluster kinetics of an interacting Bose gas
TL;DR: In this paper, the hyperbolic Bloch equations (HBEs) were applied to determine how a strongly interacting Bose gas reacts to a fast switching from weak to strong interactions, often referred to as unitarity.
Journal ArticleDOI
Quantum model of gain in phonon-polariton lasers
TL;DR: In this article, a quantum model for the calculation of the gain of phonon-polariton intersubband lasers is presented. But the model is based on expressing the crucial matter excitations (intersubband electrons and phonons) in terms of polarisation densities in second quantization, and treating all non-resonant polarisations with an effective dielectric function.
References
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Absence of Ferromagnetism or Antiferromagnetism in One- or Two-Dimensional Isotropic Heisenberg Models
N. D. Mermin,Herbert Wagner +1 more
TL;DR: In this paper, it is rigorously proved that at any nonzero temperature, a one- or two-dimensional isotropic spin-S$ Heisenberg model with finite-range exchange interaction can be neither ferromagnetic nor antiferromagnetic.
Journal ArticleDOI
Observation of Bose-Einstein Condensation in a Dilute Atomic Vapor
TL;DR: A Bose-Einstein condensate was produced in a vapor of rubidium-87 atoms that was confined by magnetic fields and evaporatively cooled and exhibited a nonthermal, anisotropic velocity distribution expected of the minimum-energy quantum state of the magnetic trap in contrast to the isotropic, thermal velocity distribution observed in the broad uncondensed fraction.
Journal ArticleDOI
Bose-Einstein condensation in a gas of sodium atoms.
K. B. Davis,M.-O. Mewes,M. R. Andrews,N.J. van Druten,Dallin Durfee,D. M. Kurn,Wolfgang Ketterle +6 more
TL;DR: In this article, Bose-Einstein condensation of sodium atoms was observed in a novel trap that employed both magnetic and optical forces, which increased the phase-space density by 6 orders of magnitude within seven seconds.
Proceedings Article
Bose-Einstein condensation in a gas of sodium atoms
TL;DR: The striking signature of Bose condensation was the sudden appearance of a bimodal velocity distribution below the critical temperature of ~2µK.
Journal ArticleDOI
Bose-Einstein condensation
TL;DR: The Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) phenomenon was first introduced by Bose as discussed by the authors, who derived the Planck law for black-body radiation by treating the photons as a gas of identical particles.