Nonlinear Polariton Fluids in a Flatband Reveal Discrete Gap Solitons.

Phase frustration in periodic lattices is responsible for the formation of dispersionless flatbands. The absence of any kinetic energy scale makes flatband physics critically sensitive to perturbations and interactions. We report on the experimental investigation of the nonlinear response of cavity polaritons in the gapped flatband of a one-dimensional Lieb lattice. We observe the formation of gap solitons with quantized size and abrupt edges, a signature of the frozen propagation of switching fronts. This type of gap soliton belongs to the class of truncated Bloch waves, and has only been observed in closed systems up to now. Here, the driven-dissipative character of the system gives rise to a complex multistability of the flatband nonlinear domains. These results open up an interesting perspective regarding more complex 2D lattices and the generation of correlated photon phases.

Phase-Controlled Bistability of a Dark Soliton Train in a Polariton Fluid.

We use a one-dimensional polariton fluid in a semiconductor microcavity to explore the nonlinear dynamics of counterpropagating interacting Bose fluids. The intrinsically driven-dissipative nature of the polariton fluid allows us to use resonant pumping to impose a phase twist across the fluid. When the polariton-polariton interaction energy becomes comparable to the kinetic energy, linear interference fringes transform into a train of solitons. A novel type of bistable behavior controlled by the phase twist across the fluid is experimentally evidenced.