Polariton lasing is demonstrated on the zero-dimensional states of single GaAs/GaAlAs micropillar cavities. Under nonresonant excitation, the measured polariton ground-state occupancy is found as large as 10(4). Changing the spatial excitation conditions, competition between several polariton lasing modes is observed, ruling out Bose-Einstein condensation. When the polariton state occupancy inc...

We investigate the cross interactions in a two-component polariton quantum fluid coherently driven by two independent pumping lasers tuned at different energies and momenta. We show that both the hysteresis cycles and the on-off threshold of one polariton signal can be entirely controlled by a second polariton fluid. Furthermore, we study the ultrafast switching dynamics of a driven polariton s...

Exciton-polariton dynamics are studied in organic semiconductor microcavities operating in the strongly coupled polariton regime, with thin films of cyanine J-aggregates sandwiched between low-loss dielectric mirrors. The delocalized excitons are subject to polariton normal mode splittings which are modulated by near resonant femtosecond excitation pulses, while orientational disorder effects o...

A system of resonance atoms is placed in a medium with developed polariton effect. In the spectrum of polariton states there can exist a band gap. If an atom with a resonance frequency inside the polariton gap is incorporated into the medium, the atomic spontaneous emission can be strongly suppressed. This is what is called the localization of light. Nevertheless, an ensemble of resonance atoms...

We find strong influence of final-state stimulation on the time-resolved light emission dynamics from semiconductor microcavities after pulsed excitation allowing angle-resonant polariton-polariton scattering on the lower-polariton branch. The polariton dynamics can be controlled by injection of final-state polaritons at densities below a polariton saturation density of 5x10(8) cm(-2). A bosoni...

Ultrafast time-resolved measurements on a semiconductor microcavity distinguish polariton dynamics dependent on the detuning between the constituent photon and exciton modes. Spectral synthesis allows the injection of specific polariton pulses into the sample. Scattering which results in absorption is found to be suppressed in the lower polariton branch by the combined action of normal mode spl...

We demonstrate the creation of vortices in a macroscopically occupied polariton state formed in a semiconductor microcavity. A weak external laser beam carrying orbital angular momentum (OAM) is used to imprint a vortex on the condensate arising from the polariton optical parametric oscillator (OPO). The vortex core radius is found to decrease with increasing pump power, and is determined by po...

A microscopic theory is presented for the giant amplification from microcavities in the strong excitonphoton coupling regime, providing excellent agreement with recent angle-resolved pump-probe experiments. The analytical and numerical solutions give insight into the physics of the polariton parametric amplifier. The coherent gain, due to polariton four-wave-mixing, has a threshold dependence o...

Wide bandgap semiconductors are promising materials for the development of polariton-based optoelectronic devices operating at room temperature (RT). We report the characteristics of ZnO-based microcavities (MCs) in the strong coupling regime at RT with a vacuum Rabi splitting of 72 meV. The impact of scattering states of excitons on polariton dispersion is investigated. Only the lower polarito...

Strong coupling effects in a dielectric microcavity with a single ZnO nanowire embedded in it have been investigated at room temperature. A large Rabi splitting of ~100 meV is obtained from the polariton dispersion and a non-linearity in the polariton emission characteristics is observed at room temperature with a low threshold of 1.63 μJ/cm(2), which corresponds to a polariton density an order...