GHz Optomechanics with Microcavity Polaritons
Dr. Paulo Santos,
Paul Drude Institute for Solid State Electronics, Berlin (Germany)
27/10/2022, 10:00 UK / 11:00 CET
Abstract
Optomechanics provides a pathway for state swapping as well as for the bidirectional interconversion between GHz and near-infrared solid-state excitations. In this talk, we show the implementation of these functionalities using m-sized potential traps for exciton-polariton condensates and GHz acoustic phonons fabricated inside a structured semiconductor microcavity. Monochromatic GHz phonons can be generated and detected by a piezoelectric transducer deposited on the microcavity surface. We show that the strong optomechanical coupling between trapped polaritons and phonons can be made sufficiently strong to induce self-oscillations (phonon lasing) under continuous optical excitation of the condensates. Under exposure to electrically generated phonons, the condensate emission displays well-defined spectral sidebands displaced by the phonon energy, thus proving the microwave-to-optical interconversion enabled by the non-adiabatic character of the phonon-polariton interaction. These results establish these structured microcavities as a scalable platform for coherent optomechanics in the GHz domain.
About the speaker
Paulo V. Santos received his Ph.D. degree in Physics from the University of Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany. After post-doctoral appointments at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center in California, USA and at the Max-Planck Institute for Solid State Physics in Stuttgart, Germany, he joined the Paul-Drude-Institut für Festkörperelektronik in Berlin, Germany in 1997 as a senior scientist. His research interests include optical spectroscopy and mechanical properties of semiconductor nanostructures. He is the author of approximately 300 publications, including peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and patents.
Date & Location
The event will be taking place online on the 24th of October at 11:00 CET (10:00 UK).
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