Bose-Einstein Condensation of Long-Lifetime Polaritons in Thermal Equilibrium
Journal Article
·
· Physical Review Letters
- Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States). Dept. of Chemistry
- Univ. of Pittsburgh, PA (United States). Dept. of Physics
- Princeton Univ., NJ (United States). Electrical Engineering Dept.
The experimental realization of Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) with atoms and quasiparticles has triggered wide exploration of macroscopic quantum effects. Microcavity polaritons are of particular interest because quantum phenomena such as BEC and superfluidity can be observed at elevated temperatures. However, polariton lifetimes are typically too short to permit thermal equilibration. This has led to debate about whether polariton condensation is intrinsically a nonequilibrium effect. Here we report the first unambiguous observation of BEC of optically trapped polaritons in thermal equilibrium in a high-$$Q$$ microcavity, evidenced by equilibrium Bose-Einstein distributions over broad ranges of polariton densities and bath temperatures. With thermal equilibrium established, we verify that polariton condensation is a phase transition with a well-defined density-temperature phase diagram. We report the measured phase boundary agrees well with the predictions of basic quantum gas theory.
- Research Organization:
- Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) (United States). Center for Excitonics (CE); Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- National Science Foundation (NSF); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES) (SC-22)
- Grant/Contract Number:
- SC0001088
- OSTI ID:
- 1388263
- Alternate ID(s):
- OSTI ID: 1338654
- Journal Information:
- Physical Review Letters, Journal Name: Physical Review Letters Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 118; ISSN 0031-9007; ISSN PRLTAO
- Publisher:
- American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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