Observation of superradiance by nonlocal wave coupling of light and excitons in CuCl thin films

Phys Rev Lett. 2009 Dec 18;103(25):257401. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.103.257401. Epub 2009 Dec 14.

Abstract

We report the observation of a remarkably strong coupling between light and a multinode-type exciton. The observed radiative decay time reaches the order of 100 fs, which is much faster than the dephasing process of nonradiative scattering. In this high-speed superradiance, the light wave and the excitonic wave in a high-quality thin film form a harmonized wave-wave coupling over a range of multiple wavelengths. This mechanism contradicts the conventional physical description of light-matter interaction based on the long-wavelength approximation.