Regensburg 2019 – scientific programme

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HL: Fachverband Halbleiterphysik

HL 46: Ultra-fast phenomena

HL 46.5: Talk

Friday, April 5, 2019, 10:30–10:45, H31

Externally Controlled Lotka-Volterra Dynamics in a Linearly Polarized Polariton Fluid — •Matthias Pukrop and Stefan Schumacher — Department of Physics and CeOPP, Paderborn University, 33098 Paderborn, Germany

Coherent polariton fluids in semiconductor microcavities provide a platform for optical pattern formation and all-optical switching of patterns induced by a weak control beam. Recently, reversible on-demand switching was studied for a linearly polarized polariton system. Switching times and achievable gain were discussed based on detailed numerical simulations of the coupled light-field exciton dynamics obtained within a microscopic semiconductor theory [1]. Here we derive a simplified population competition model to gain more detailed insight into the switching mechanisms based on dynamical systems theory. The model we derived leads to an extended generalized Lotka-Volterra system for two competing populations controlled by an external source term. We will give an overview of both the existence and stability properties of possible steady states in the relevant parameter space, spanned by the strength of anisotropy and external control. We construct phase boundaries in representative regions of the non-trivial parameter space and characterize relevant bifurcations. The population competition model reproduces all key features of the switching processes observed in the full numerical simulations of the rather complex system and at the same time is simple enough for a fully analytical understanding of the underlying system dynamics.

[1] P. Lewandowski et al., Opt. Express 25, 31056-31063 (2017).