Polaritons in cuprous oxide perturbed by LA-phonons

Abstract

We present a comparative analysis of a 'conventional' phonoriton (coherent superposition of exciton-photon-phonon) and a polariton (coherent exciton-photon superposition) 'weakly' coupled to the LA-phonons bath. Depending on duration of the pumping laser field the phonon-induced decoherence results in two distinct types of excitation. Long ($ms$) laser pumping pulses form an 'equilibrium' polariton. The generic feature here is a pronounced photo-thermal bi-stability. i.e. formation of four distinct branches. Transitions between branches can be achieved by excitation energy fluctuations as small as $200neV$ which may impede BEC of the para-excitons. Short ($\mu s$) laser pulses create a 'quasi-equilibrium' polariton. In the latter case, for some critical intensity of the laser field we demonstrate possibility of strong luminicence from a highly unstable localized state on the lower polariton branch.

7 pages, 6 gigures