Polariton condensates have proved to be model systems to investigate topological defects, as they allow for direct and non-destructive imaging of the condensate complex order parameter. The fundamental topological excitations of such systems are quan
tized vortices. In specific configurations, further ordering can bring the formation of vortex lattices. In this work we demonstrate the spontaneous formation of ordered vortical states, consisting in geometrically self-arranged vortex-antivortex pairs. A mean-field generalized Gross-Pitaevskii model reproduces and supports the physics of the observed phenomenology.
We perform quantum tomography on one-dimensional polariton condensates, spontaneously occurring in linear disorder valleys in a CdTe planar microcavity sample. By the use of optical interferometric techniques, we determine the first-order coherence f
unction and the amplitude and phase of the order parameter of the condensate, providing a full reconstruction of the single particle density matrix for the polariton system. The experimental data are used as input to theoretically test the consistency of Penrose-Onsager criterion for Bose-Einstein condensation in the framework of nonequilibrium polariton condensates. The results confirm the pertinence and validity of the criterion for a non equilibrium condensed gas.
Polariton condensation can be regarded as a self-organization phenomenon, where phase ordering is established among particles in the system. In such condensed systems, further ordering can possibly occur in the particle density distribution, under pa
rticular experimental conditions. In this work we report on spontaneous pattern formation in a polariton condensate under non-resonant optical pumping. The slightly elliptical ring-shaped excitation laser we employ is such to force condensation to occur in a single-energy state with periodic boundary conditions, giving rise to a multi-lobe standing wave patterned state.
We experimentally demonstrate a technique for the generation of optical beams carrying orbital angular momentum using a planar semiconductor microcavity. Despite being isotropic systems, the transverse electric - transverse magnetic (TE-TM) polarizat
ion splitting featured by semiconductor microcavities allows for the conversion of the circular polarization of an incoming laser beam into the orbital angular momentum of the transmitted light field. The process implies the formation of topological entities, a pair of optical half-vortices, in the intracavity field.
We study the coherence and density modulation of a non-equilibrium exciton-polariton condensate in a one-dimensional valley with disorder. By means of interferometric measurements we evidence a modulation of the first-order coherence function and we
relate it to a disorder-induced modulation of the condensate density, that increases as the pump power is increased. The non-monotonous spatial coherence function is found to be the result of the strong non-equilibrium character of the one-dimensional system, in the presence of disorder.
The experimental investigation of spontaneously created vortices is of utmost importance for the understanding of quantum phase transitions towards a superfluid phase, especially for two dimensional systems that are expected to be governed by the Ber
ezinski-Kosterlitz-Thouless physics. By means of time resolved near-field interferometry we track the path of such vortices, created at random locations in an exciton-polariton condensate under pulsed non-resonant excitation, to their final pinning positions imposed by the stationary disorder. We formulate a theoretical model that successfully reproduces the experimental observations.
