Hyperbolic Metamaterials with Bragg Polaritons

We propose a novel mechanism for designing quantum hyperbolic metamaterials with use of semi-conductor Bragg mirrors containing periodically arrangedquantum wells. The hyperbolic dispersion of exciton-polariton modes is realized near the top of the first allowed photonic miniband in such structure which leads to formation of exciton-polariton X-waves. Exciton-light coupling provides a resonant non-linearity which leads to non-trivial topologic solutions. We predict formation of low amplitude spatially localized oscillatory structures: oscillons described by kink shaped solutions of the effective Ginzburg-Landau-Higgs equation. The oscillons have direct analogies in the gravita-tional theory. We discuss implementation of exciton-polariton Higgs fields for the Schrodinger cat state generation.

Tunneling-assisted optical information storage with lattice polariton solitons in cavity-QED arrays

Considering two-level media in the array of weakly coupled nano-cavities, we reveal a variety of dynamical regimes, such as diffusion, self-trapping, soliton, and breathers for the wave-packets in the presence of photon tunneling processes between the next-nearest cavities. We focus our attention on the low branch (LB) bright polariton soliton formation, due to the two-body polariton-polariton scattering processes. When detuning frequency is manipulated adiabatically, the low-branch lattice polariton localized states, i.e., that are solitons and breathers evolving between photon-like and matter-like states, are shown to act as carriers for spatially distributed storage and retrieval of optical information.

Lasing and high temperature phase transitions in atomic systems with dressed state polaritons

We consider the fundamental problem of high temperature phase transitions in the system of high density two-level atoms off-resonantly interacting with a pump field in the presence of optical collisions (OCs) and placed in the cavity. OCs are considered in the framework of thermalization of atomic dressed state (DS) population. For the case of a strong atom-field coupling condition we analyze the problem of thermodynamically equilibrium superradiant phase transition for the order parameter representing a real amplitude of cavity mode and taking place as a result of atomic DSs thermalization process. Such transition is also connected with condensed (coherent) properties of low branch (LB) DS-polaritons occurring in the cavity. For describing non-equilibrium phase transitions we derive Maxwell-Bloch like equations which account for cavity decay rate, collisional decay rate and spontaneous emission. Various aspects of transitions to laser field formation by using atomic DS levels for both positive and negative detuning of a pump field from atomic transition frequency are studied in detail. It is revealed, that for positive atom-light detuning DS lasing can be obtained in the presence of quasi-equilibrium DS population that corresponds to a true two-level atomic system with the inversion in nonresonant limit.

Bose-Einstein condensation for trapped atomic polaritons in a biconical waveguide cavity

We study the problem of high temperature Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) of atom-light polaritons in a waveguide cavity appearing due to interaction of two-level atoms with (non-resonant) quantized optical radiation, in the strong coupling regime, in the presence of optical collisions (OCs) with buffer gas particles. Specifically, we propose a special biconical waveguide cavity (BWC), permitting localization and trapping of low branch (LB) polaritons imposed by the variation of the waveguide radius in longitudinal direction. We have shown that critical temperature of BEC occurring in the system can be high enough -- few hundred Kelvins; it is connected with photon-like character of LB polaritons and strongly depends on waveguide cavity parameters. In the case of a linear trapping potential we obtain an Airy-shaped polariton condensate wave function which, when disturbed out of equilibrium, exhibits small amplitude oscillations with the characteristic period in the picosecond domain.

Nonlinear properties and stabilities of polaritonic crystals beyond the low-excitation-density limit

Coherent properties of a two dimensional spatially periodic structure - polaritonic crystal (PolC) formed by trapped two-level atoms in an optical cavity array interacting with a light field, are analyzed. By considering the wave function overlapping both for photonic and atomic states, a cubic-quintic complex nonlinear Schrodinger equation (CNLSE) is derived for the dynamics of coupled atom-light states - wave function of low branch (LB) polaritons, associated with PolC in the continuous limit. The variational approach predicts that a stable ground state wave function of PolC exists but is accompanied by an oscillating width. For a negative scattering length, the wave function collapses in the presence of a small quintic nonlinearity appear due to a three body polariton interaction. Studying non-equilibrium (dissipative) dynamics of polaritons with adiabatic approximation we have shown that the collapse of PolC wave function can be prevented even in the presence of small decaying of a number of polariton particles.

Strongly localized polaritons in an array of trapped two-level atoms interacting with a light field

We propose a new type of spatially periodic structure, i.e. polaritonic crystal (PolC), to observe a slow/stopped light phenomenon due to coupled atom-field states (polaritons) in a lattice. Under the tightbinding approximation, such a system realizes an array of weakly coupled trapped two-component atomic ensembles interacting with optical field in a tunnel-coupled one dimensional cavity array. We have shown that the phase transition to the superfluid Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer state, a so-called (BCS)-type state of low branch polaritons, occurs under the strong coupling condition. Such a transition results in the appearance of a macroscopic polarization of the atomic medium at non-zero frequency. The principal result is that the group velocity of polaritons depends essentially on the order parameter of the system, i.e. on the average photon number in the cavity array.

Josephson dynamics for coupled polariton modes under the atom-field interaction in the cavity

We consider a new approach to the problem of Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) of polaritons for atom-field interaction under the strong coupling regime in the cavity. We investigate the dynamics of two macroscopically populated polariton modes corresponding to the upper and lower branch energy states coupled via Kerr-like nonlinearity of atomic medium. We found out the dispersion relations for new type of collective excitations in the system under consideration. Various temporal regimes like linear (nonlinear) Josephson transition and/or Rabi oscillations, macroscopic quantum self-trapping (MQST) dynamics for population imbalance of polariton modes are predicted. We also examine the switching properties for time-averaged population imbalance depending on initial conditions, effective nonlinear parameter of atomic medium and kinetic energy of low-branch polaritons.