Electrically tunable source of coherent polaritons.

What is it about?

We demonstrate the design and construction of a device capable to generate a coherent guided flux of hybrid light-matter particles. It is composed by a semiconductor slab that confines the light inside, and 12 "quantum wells" that confine electrons in 2D. When the confined light finds the confined electrons, a quasi-particle with new properties emerges: the so called exciton polariton. By adding two gold gratings a cavity is formed, enabling a phase transition where a coherent population of these hybrid particles is created.

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Why is it important?

Polaritons have shown to be of great interest from both scientific and techonological points of view. They have a unique peculiarity: high coherence from their photonic component with strong mutual interactions from their excitonic one. This feature makes them good candidates for the design of electro-optical devices working in the near infrared regime. The demonstration of polariton-based devices paves the way for a next generation of technologies in which electrons and light are interfaced to boost the performance of the devices.

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