Polariton Effects in Optical Spectra of Microcavities

Abstract : The coupling between electronic excitations and optical modes have been of considerable interest in studies of atoms in optical cavities and optical excitations in semiconductor microcavities. The electromagnetic spectra of atoms in optical cavities exhibit splittings due to the coupling of the atomic dipole transitions with the radiation field. These coupled modes are called the vacuum field Rabi oscillations and the splittings between them are the vacuum field Rabi splittings. In case of electronic excitations in semiconductor microcavities the optical modes are coupled to excitons and the exciton photon modes are often called cavity polaritons. These couplings are important for understanding such effects as optical bistability and laser action.