Quantum degenerate exciton-polaritons in thermal equilibrium

Phys Rev Lett. 2006 Oct 6;97(14):146402. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.97.146402. Epub 2006 Oct 3.

Abstract

We study the momentum distribution and relaxation dynamics of semiconductor microcavity polaritons by angle-resolved and time-resolved spectroscopy. Above a critical pump level, the thermalization time of polaritons at positive detunings becomes shorter than their lifetime, and the polaritons form a quantum degenerate Bose-Einstein distribution in thermal equilibrium with the lattice.