Intrinsic non-linearities in exciton-cavity-coupled systems

SABA, MICHELE;QUOCHI, FRANCESCO;Ciuti C;BONGIOVANNI, GIOVANNI LUIGI CARLO;MURA, ANTONIO ANDREA;Oesterle U;Staehli JL;Deveaud B.

1999-01-01

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Abstract

We investigate the mechanisms leading to the optical non-linearities observed on a strongly excited semiconductor microcavity containing quantum wells. This study of a coupled exciton-cavity system is possible owing to the availability of a sample of exceptionally high quality, permitting to exclude effects of disorder and inhomogeneous broadening. Sub-picosecond pump and probe experiments are performed, in the regime of an incoherent exciton gas of high density. For such a gas the dephasing due to collisions is not efficient enough to cause the break-down of the strong coupling and hence the collapse of the Rabi splitting. Phase-space filling and exchange effects are the dominant mechanisms. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.