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Updated: Jun 5, 2026

Experimental Methods for Spin- and Angle-Resolved Photoemission Spectroscopy Combined with Polarization-Variable Laser
Published on: June 28, 2018
Polarization bistability and resultant spin rings in semiconductor microcavities
D Sarkar1, S S Gavrilov, M Sich
1Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S3 7RH, United Kingdom.
Abstract:
The transmission of a pump laser resonant with the lower polariton branch of a semiconductor microcavity is shown to be highly dependent on the degree of circular polarization of the pump. Spin dependent anisotropy of polariton-polariton interactions allows the internal polarization to be controlled by varying the pump power. The formation of spatial patterns, spin rings with a high degree of circular polarization, arising as a result of polarization bistability, is observed. A phenomenological model based on effective semiclassical equations of motion provides a good description of the experimental results. Inclusion of interactions with the incoherent exciton reservoir, which provides spin-independent blueshifts of the polariton modes, is found to be essential.
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