Near-infrared characterization of gallium nitride photonic-crystal waveguides and cavities.

We report the design and optical characterization of fully suspended wire waveguides and photonic crystal (PhC) membranes fabricated on a gallium nitride layer grown on silicon substrate operating at 1.5 µm. W1-type PhC waveguides are coupled with suspended wires and are investigated using a standard end-fire setup. The experimental and theoretical dispersion properties of the propagating modes in the wires and photonic-crystal waveguides are shown. Modified L3 cavities with quality factors of up to 2200 and heterostructure cavities with quality factors of up to 5400 are experimentally demonstrated.

Spin rings in bistable planar semiconductor microcavities.

A remarkable feature of exciton-polaritons is the strongly spin-dependent polariton-polariton interaction, which has been predicted to result in the formation of spin rings in real space [Shelykh, Phys. Rev. Lett. 100, 116401 (2008)]. Here we experimentally demonstrate the spin bistability of exciton polaritons in an InGaAs-based semiconductor microcavity under resonant optical pumping. We observe the formation of spin rings whose size can be finely controlled in a spatial scale down to the micrometer range, much smaller than the spot size. Demonstration of optically controlled spin patterns in semiconductors opens way to the realization of spin logic devices and spin memories.

Coupled-mode theory and propagation losses in photonic crystal waveguides.

Mode coupling phenomena, manifested by transmission "ministopbands", occur in two-dimensional photonic crystal channel waveguides. The huge difference in the group velocities of the coupled modes is a new feature with respect to the classical Bragg reflection occurring, e.g., in distributed feedback lasers. We show that an adequate ansatz of the classical coupled-mode theory remarkably well accounts for this new phenomenon. The fit of experimental transmission data from GaAs-based photonic crystal waveguides then leads to an accurate determination of the propagation losses of both fundamental and higher, low-group-velocity modes.

Nonlinear emission of semiconductor microcavities in the strong coupling regime

We report on the nonlinear laserlike emission from semiconductor microcavities in the strong coupling regime. Under resonant continuous wave excitation we observe a highly emissive state. The energy, dispersion, and spatial extent of this state is measured and is found to be dispersionless and spatially localized. This state coexists with luminescence that follows the usual cavity-polariton dispersion. It is attributed to the amplification of luminescence by a parametric gain due to cavity-polariton scattering. Despite the resonant excitation at 1.6 K, we observe no sign of Bose-Einstein condensation nor Boser action.

All-optical polariton transistor.

Although optical technology provides the best solution for the transmission of information, all-optical devices must satisfy several qualitative criteria to be used as logic elements. In particular, cascadability is difficult to obtain in optical systems, and it is assured only if the output of one stage is in the correct form to drive the input of the next stage. Exciton-polaritons, which are composite particles resulting from the strong coupling between excitons and photons, have recently demonstrated huge non-linearities and unique propagation properties. Here we show that polariton fluids moving in the plane of the microcavity can operate as input and output of an all-optical transistor, obtaining up to 19 times amplification and demonstrating the cascadability of the system. Moreover, the operation as an AND/OR gate is shown, validating the connectivity of multiple transistors in the microcavity plane and opening the way to the implementation of polariton integrated circuits.

Polariton superfluids reveal quantum hydrodynamic solitons.

A quantum fluid passing an obstacle behaves differently from a classical one. When the flow is slow enough, the quantum gas enters a superfluid regime, and neither whirlpools nor waves form around the obstacle. For higher flow velocities, it has been predicted that the perturbation induced by the defect gives rise to the turbulent emission of quantized vortices and to the nucleation of solitons. Using an interacting Bose gas of exciton-polaritons in a semiconductor microcavity, we report the transition from superfluidity to the hydrodynamic formation of oblique dark solitons and vortex streets in the wake of a potential barrier. The direct observation of these topological excitations provides key information on the mechanisms of superflow and shows the potential of polariton condensates for quantum turbulence studies.

Self-collimating photonic crystal polarization beam splitter.

We present theoretical and experimental results of a polarization splitter device that consists of a photonic crystal (PhC) slab, which exhibits a large reflection coefficient for TE and a high transmission coefficient for TM polarization. The slab is embedded in a PhC tile operating in the self-collimation mode. Embedding the polarization-discriminating slab in a PhC with identical lattice symmetry suppresses the in-plane diffraction losses at the PhC-non-PhC interface. The optimization of the PhC-non-PhC interface is thereby decoupled from the optimization of the polarizing function. Transmissions as high as 35% for TM- and 30% for TE-polarized light are reported.

Dispersion properties of silicon nanophotonic waveguides investigated with Fourier optics.

We experimentally investigate the dispersion relation of silicon-on-insulator waveguides in the 1.5 microm wavelength range by using a technique based on far-field Fourier-space imaging. The phase information of the propagating modes is transferred into the far field either by linear probe gratings positioned 1 microm away from the waveguide core or by residual gratings located on the sidewalls of the waveguide. As a result, the dispersion curve of rectangular and slot waveguides as well as the group index dispersion are accurately determined.

Disorder-induced losses in planar photonic crystals.

The phenomenological approach introduced by Benisty [Appl. Phys. Lett. 76, 532 (2000)] to model out-of-plane radiation losses in planar photonic crystals with a low vertical refractive index contrast is extended to the case of in-plane disorder. The model is experimentally validated by means of optical measurements on GaAs-based structures. For the present fabrication techniques the disorder-induced contribution is found to be negligible compared with the other loss mechanisms.