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Nonlinear polariton parametric emission in an atomically thin semiconductor based microcavity

Nature Nanotechnology volume 17, pages 396–402 (2022)Cite this article

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Abstract

Parametric nonlinear optical processes are at the heart of nonlinear optics underpinning the central role in the generation of entangled photons as well as the realization of coherent optical sources. Exciton-polaritons are capable to sustain parametric scattering at extremely low threshold, offering a readily accessible platform to study bosonic fluids. Recently, two-dimensional transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) have attracted great attention in strong light–matter interactions due to robust excitonic transitions and unique spin-valley degrees of freedom. However, further progress is hindered by the lack of realizations of strong nonlinear effects in TMD polaritons. Here, we demonstrate a realization of nonlinear optical parametric polaritons in a WS2 monolayer microcavity pumped at the inflection point and triggered in the ground state. We observed the formation of a phase-matched idler state and nonlinear amplification that preserves the valley population and survives up to room temperature. Our results open a new door towards the realization of the future for all-optical valley polariton nonlinear devices.

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Fig. 1: Sample structure and optical characterization of TMD monolayer microcavity.
Fig. 2: Power dependence of the optical triggered parametric scattering at Δt = 0 ps.
Fig. 3: Polarization properties and temporal dynamics of optical triggered parametric scattering.
Fig. 4: Triggered parametric scattering at room temperature.

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All data needed to evaluate the conclusions in the paper are present in the main text and/or the Supplementary Information. Additional data related to this paper may be requested from the authors on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the following funding sources: National Natural Science Foundation of China under grant no. 12020101003 and funding support from State Key Laboratory of Low-Dimensional Quantum Physics of Tsinghua University (Q.X.); Singapore Ministry of Education via the AcRF Tier 3 Programme ‘Geometrical Quantum Materials’ and AcRF Tier 2 project under grant nos. MOE2018-T3-1-002 and MOE2018-T2-2-068 (T.C.H.L.). Ministry of Education, University and Research of Italy via the PRIN project ‘Interacting Photons in Polariton Circuits—INPhoPOL’, FISR-COVID project ‘Wavesense’ and Joint Bilateral Agreement CNR-RFBR (Russian Foundation for Basic Research) project `Hardware implementation of a polariton neural network for neuromorphic computing`, Triennal Program 2021–2023, under grant nos. 2017P9FJBS_001 and FISR2020IP_04324 (D.S.).

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Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Jiaxin Zhao, Antonio Fieramosca.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Physics and Applied Physics, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore

    Jiaxin Zhao, Antonio Fieramosca, Ruiqi Bao, Wei Du, Kevin Dini, Rui Su, Jiangang Feng & Timothy C. H. Liew

  2. State Key Laboratory of Low-Dimensional Quantum Physics and Department of Physics, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China

    Yuan Luo & Qihua Xiong

  3. CNR NANOTEC Institute of Nanotechnology, Lecce, Italy

    Daniele Sanvitto

  4. INFN National Institute of Nuclear Physics, Lecce, Italy

    Daniele Sanvitto

  5. MajuLab, International Joint Research Unit UMI 3654, CNRS, Université Côte d’Azur, Sorbonne Université, National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore

    Timothy C. H. Liew

  6. Frontier Science Center for Quantum Information, Beijing, China

    Qihua Xiong

  7. Beijing Academy of Quantum Information Sciences, Beijing, China

    Qihua Xiong

  8. Beijing Innovation Center for Future Chips, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China

    Qihua Xiong

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  1. Jiaxin Zhao
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Contributions

A.F. and J.Z. conceived the ideas and designed the experiments. J.Z. prepared the monolayer microcavity samples with the help of W.D., R.S., J.F. and Y.L. A.F. and J.Z. carried out the optical spectroscopy measurements and analysed data. R.B. performed the theoretical calculations with the help of K.D. J.Z., A.F., T.C.H.L., D.S. and Q.X. wrote the manuscript with input from all authors. Q.X. supervised the whole project.

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Correspondence to Antonio Fieramosca or Qihua Xiong.

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Nature Nanotechnology thanks Nathaniel Stern and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Zhao, J., Fieramosca, A., Bao, R. et al. Nonlinear polariton parametric emission in an atomically thin semiconductor based microcavity. Nat. Nanotechnol. 17, 396–402 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-022-01073-9

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