Exciton-Polaritons and Their Bose-Einstein Condensates in Organic Semiconductor Microcavities

Adv Mater. 2022 Jan;34(4):e2106095. doi: 10.1002/adma.202106095. Epub 2021 Dec 8.

Abstract

Exciton-polaritons are half-light, half-matter bosonic quasiparticles formed by strong exciton-photon coupling in semiconductor microcavities. These hybrid particles possess the strong nonlinear interactions of excitons and keep most of the characteristics of the underlying photons. As bosons, above a threshold density they can undergo Bose-Einstein condensation to a polariton condensate phase and exhibit a rich variety of exotic macroscopic quantum phenomena in solids. Recently, organic semiconductors have been considered as a promising material platform for these studies due to their room-temperature stability, good processability, and abundant photophysics and photochemistry. Herein, recent advances of exciton-polaritons and their Bose-Einstein condensates in organic semiconductor microcavities are summarized. First, the basic physics is introduced, and then their emerging applications are highlighted. The remaining questions are also discussed and a personal viewpoint about the potential directions for future research is given.

Keywords: Bose-Einstein condensation; exciton-polaritons; light-matter interactions; organic semiconductor; polariton condensation; strong coupling.

Publication types

  • Review