Operation of a continuous flow liquid helium magnetic microscopy cryostat as a closed cycle system.

We demonstrate successful operation of a continuous flow liquid helium magnetic cryostat (Oxford Instruments, Microstat MO) in closed cycle operation using a modular cryocooling system (ColdEdge Technologies, Stinger). For the system operation, we have developed a custom gas handling manifold and we show that despite the lower cooling power of the cryocooler with respect to the nominal cryostat cooling power requirements, the magnetic cryostat can be operated in a stable manner. We provide the design of the gas handling manifold and a detailed analysis of the system performance in terms of cooling times, magnetic field ramping rates, and vibrations at the sample. Base temperatures can be reached within 10 h while the superconducting magnet can be energized at a ramping rate of 0.5 T/min. Vibrations are measured interferometrically and show amplitudes with a root mean square on the order of 5 nm, permitting the use of the system for sensitive magnetic microscopy experiments.

Observation of Mollow Triplets with Tunable Interactions in Double Lambda Systems of Individual Hole Spins.

Although individual spins in quantum dots have been studied extensively as qubits, their investigation under strong resonant driving in the scope of accessing Mollow physics is still an open question. Here, we have grown high quality positively charged quantum dots embedded in a planar microcavity that enable enhanced light-matter interactions. Under a strong magnetic field in the Voigt configuration, individual positively charged quantum dots provide a double lambda level structure. Using a combination of above-band and resonant excitation, we observe the formation of Mollow triplets on all optical transitions. We find that when the strong resonant drive power is used to tune the Mollow-triplet lines through each other, we observe anticrossings. We also demonstrate that the interaction that gives rise to the anticrossings can be controlled in strength by tuning the polarization of the resonant laser drive. Quantum-optical modeling of our system fully captures the experimentally observed spectra and provides insight on the complicated level structure that results from the strong driving of the double lambda system.

Dissociation dynamics of singly charged vortices into half-quantum vortex pairs.

The quest for identification and understanding of fractional vorticity is a major subject of research in the quantum fluids domain, ranging from superconductors, superfluid Helium-3 to cold atoms. In a two-dimensional Bose degenerate gas with a spin degree of freedom, the fundamental topological excitations are fractional vortical entities, called half-quantum vortices. Convincing evidence for the existence of half-quantum vortices was recently provided in spinor polariton condensates. The half-quantum vortices can be regarded as the fundamental structural components of singly charged vortices but, so far, no experimental evidence of this relation has been provided. Here we report on the direct and time-resolved observation of the dynamical process of the dissociation of a singly charged vortex into its primary components, a pair of half-quantum vortices. The physical origin of the observed phenomenology is found in a spatially inhomogeneous static potential that couples the two spin components of the condensate.

Penrose-Onsager criterion validation in a one-dimensional polariton condensate.

We perform quantum tomography on one-dimensional polariton condensates, spontaneously occurring in linear disorder valleys in a CdTe planar microcavity sample. By the use of optical interferometric techniques, we determine the first-order coherence function and the amplitude and phase of the order parameter of the condensate, providing a full reconstruction of the single particle density matrix for the polariton system. The experimental data are used as input to theoretically test the consistency of the Penrose-Onsager criterion for Bose-Einstein condensation in the framework of nonequilibrium polariton condensates. The results confirm the pertinence and validity of the criterion for a nonequilibrium condensed gas.

Spontaneous symmetry breaking in a polariton and photon laser.

We report on the simultaneous observation of spontaneous symmetry breaking and long-range spatial coherence both in the strong- and the weak-coupling regime in a semiconductor microcavity. Under pulsed excitation, the formation of a stochastic order parameter is observed in polariton and photon lasing regimes. Single-shot measurements of the Stokes vector of the emission exhibit the buildup of stochastic polarization. Below threshold, the polarization noise does not exceed 10%, while above threshold we observe a total polarization of up to 50% after each excitation pulse, while the polarization averaged over the ensemble of pulses remains nearly zero. In both polariton and photon lasing regimes, the stochastic polarization buildup is accompanied by the buildup of spatial coherence. We find that the Landau criterion of spontaneous symmetry breaking and Penrose-Onsager criterion of long-range order for Bose-Einstein condensation are met in both polariton and photon lasing regimes.

Spontaneous pattern formation in a polariton condensate.

Exciton-polariton condensation can be regarded as a self-organization phenomenon, where phase ordering is established among particles in the system. In such condensed systems, further ordering can occur in the particle density distribution, under particular experimental conditions. In this work we report on spontaneous pattern formation in a polariton condensate under nonresonant optical pumping. The slightly elliptical ring-shaped excitation laser that we employ forces condensation to occur into a single-energy state with periodic boundary conditions, giving rise to a multilobe standing-wave patterned state.

Polariton condensation in a one-dimensional disordered potential.

We study the coherence and density modulation of a nonequilibrium exciton-polariton condensate in a one-dimensional valley with disorder. By means of interferometric measurements we evidence a modulation of the first-order coherence function and we relate it to a disorder-induced modulation of the condensate density, that increases as the pump power is increased. The nonmonotonic spatial coherence function is found to be the result of the strong nonequilibrium character of the one-dimensional system, in the presence of disorder.

Probing the dynamics of spontaneous quantum vortices in polariton superfluids.

The experimental investigation of spontaneously created vortices is of utmost importance for the understanding of quantum phase transitions towards a superfluid phase, especially for two-dimensional systems that are expected to be governed by the Berezinski-Kosterlitz-Thouless physics. By means of time-resolved near-field interferometry we track the path of such vortices, created at random locations in an exciton-polariton condensate under pulsed nonresonant excitation, to their final pinning positions imposed by the stationary disorder. We formulate a theoretical model that successfully reproduces the experimental observations.

Coherent oscillations in an exciton-polariton Josephson junction.

We report on the observation of spontaneous coherent oscillations in a microcavity polariton bosonic Josephson junction. Condensation of exciton polaritons here takes place under incoherent excitation in a double potential well naturally formed in the disorder. Coherent oscillations set on at an excitation power well above the condensation threshold. The time resolved population and phase dynamics reveal the analogy with the ac Josephson effect. A theoretical two-mode model describes the observed effects, explaining how the different realizations of the pulsed experiment can be in phase.

Observation of half-quantum vortices in an exciton-polariton condensate.

Singly quantized vortices have already been observed in many systems, including the superfluid helium, Bose-Einstein condensates of dilute atomic gases, and condensates of exciton-polaritons in the solid state. Two-dimensional superfluids carrying spin are expected to demonstrate a different type of elementary excitations referred to as half-quantum vortices, characterized by a pi rotation of the phase and a pi rotation of the polarization vector when circumventing the vortex core. We detect half-quantum vortices in an exciton-polariton condensate by means of polarization-resolved interferometry, real-space spectroscopy, and phase imaging. Half-quantum vortices coexist with single-quantum vortices in our sample.

Dynamics of long-range ordering in an exciton-polariton condensate.

We report on time-resolved measurements of the first order spatial coherence in an exciton-polariton Bose-Einstein condensate. Long-range spatial coherence is found to set in right at the onset of stimulated scattering, on a picosecond time scale. The coherence reaches its maximum value after the population and decays slowly, staying up to a few hundred picoseconds. This behavior can be qualitatively reproduced, using a stochastic classical field model describing interaction between the polariton condensate and the exciton reservoir within a disordered potential.

Synchronized and desynchronized phases of exciton-polariton condensates in the presence of disorder.

Condensation of exciton polaritons in semiconductor microcavities takes place despite in-plane disorder. Below the critical density, the inhomogeneity of the disorder limits the spatial extension of the ground state. Above the critical density, in the presence of weak disorder, this limitation is spontaneously overcome by the nonlinear interaction, resulting in an extended synchronized phase. In the case of strong disorder, several non-phase-locked condensates can be evidenced. The transition from a synchronized phase to a desynchronized phase is addressed by sampling the cavity disorder.