Polariton condensate trapping by parametric pair scattering

Spatially confined, trapped polariton condensates have been shown to exhibit strong stochastic on-site spin polarization and in longer polariton condensate chains, distance controlled ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic spin couplings. Until now, little is known, on how such polariton condensates spatially separated from their exciton reservoirs are trapped and formed. Here, we investigate the properties and formation dynamics of two main families of polariton condensates, those overlapping with the pump reservoir and those in confined geometries, under pulsed nonresonant excitation. The observed reduction in polariton condensation threshold and energy blueshift in trapped case is attributed to exciton reservoir-condensate spatial separation, whereas time-resolved photoluminescence measurements, reveal distinct relaxation and condensate formation dynamics with pair parametric scattering process being the dominant relaxation mechanism in trapped geometry.