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Updated: Jan 28, 2026

Optical Trapping of Nanoparticles
Published on: January 15, 2013
Room temperature exciton-polariton condensate in an optically-controlled trap
Xinhan Zhang1, Yingjun Zhang, Hongxing Dong
1Wuhan National High Magnetic Field Center and School of Physics, Huazhong University of Science & Technology, Wuhan 430074, China. zhouweihang@hust.edu.cn.
Abstract:
We report experimental studies on the optical properties of an exciton polariton condensate confined in an optically defined trap at room temperature. As a result of the parabolic profile of the optical trap, the polariton condensate redistributes itself in simple harmonic oscillator states, forming an analog of the gravity pendulum. We observed the coexistence of two harmonic oscillator modes in a single trap, which were confirmed to be confined modes connected by longitudinal optical (LO) phonons using Raman spectroscopy. Clear features of mode competition behaviors were observed for these two harmonic oscillators when the injection rate of polaritons was varied. The observed mode competition was successfully simulated by a three-level rate equation model. In addition, as a result of the bosonic stimulation in the trap region, up to ∼88% of the injected polaritons were successfully trapped when polariton lasing takes place.
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