Time-delay polaritonics

• Published in: Communications physics Vol. 3; no. 1
• Main Authors: Töpfer, J. D., Sigurdsson, H., Pickup, L., Lagoudakis, P. G.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 07.01.2020; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 639/624/400/2797; 639/766/119/2791; Condensates; Condensed matter physics; Coupling; Equations of motion; Excitons; Lattices; Linearity; Nonlinear systems; Nonlinearity; Optical control; Oscillators; Phase transitions; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Polaritons; Propagation; System effectiveness
• ISSN: 2399-3650; 2399-3650
• DOI: 10.1038/s42005-019-0271-0

Non-linearity and finite signal propagation speeds are omnipresent in nature, technologies, and real-world problems, where efficient ways of describing and predicting the effects of these elements are in high demand. Advances in engineering condensed matter systems, such as lattices of trapped condensates, have enabled studies on non-linear effects in many-body systems where exchange of particles between lattice nodes is effectively instantaneous. Here, we demonstrate a regime of macroscopic matter-wave systems, in which ballistically expanding condensates of microcavity exciton-polaritons act as picosecond, microscale non-linear oscillators subject to time-delayed interaction. The ease of optical control and readout of polariton condensates enables us to explore the phase space of two interacting condensates up to macroscopic distances highlighting its potential in extended configurations. We demonstrate deterministic tuning of the coupled-condensate system between fixed point and limit cycle regimes, which is fully reproduced by time-delayed coupled equations of motion similar to the Lang-Kobayashi equation. Coupling in many-body systems leads to complex nonlinear effects, but the transition between instantaneous and time-delayed regimes is not well understood. This work shows that spatially-separated exciton-polariton condensates can be controlled to exhibit complex spectral patterns through time-delayed coupling.