Abstract
All-optical switching of the polarization of exciton polaritons is studied using a picosecond acoustic perturbation of the exciton resonance in high- planar / microcavities. An irreversible switching of the degree of circular polarization from up to is realized in a microcavity pumped by a laser with a photon energy slightly exceeding the lower polariton resonance. The polarization switch is performed by a short-term, about 30-ps-long, blueshift of the exciton energy of () quantum wells in the cavity active layer by a 10-ps strain pulse generated in the substrate by a violet femtosecond laser pulse and injected into the microcavity. The proposed all-optical control of light polarization using acoustic modulation of a polariton resonance opens the way for fast and easily tunable optical polarization switches.
- Received 5 April 2022
- Revised 17 July 2022
- Accepted 22 August 2022
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevApplied.18.044045
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