Cold exciton gases in coupled quantum wells

Leonid V. Butov UCSD Physics Department Introduction General overview of exciton condensation Cold exciton gases in coupled quantum wells Phenomena in cold exciton gases Condensation, Coherence, and Pattern Formation Trapping and control of exciton gases Optical traps Electrostatic traps Excitonic Circuits presentations by Aaron Hammack Alex High Sen Yang

In collaboration with: Michael Fogler, Martin Griswold, Aaron Hammack, Alex High, Jason Leonard, Ekaterina Novitskaya, Averi Thomas, Alex Winbow, Sen Yang (UCSD) Alexei Ivanov, Leonidas Mouchliadis, Lois Smallwood (Cardiff University) Ben Simons (Cambridge), Leonid Levitov (MIT) Micah Hanson, Arthur Gossard (UCSB)

Different types of exciton condensate

electron-hole liquid condensation in real space to electron-hole droplets forming degenerate Fermi gas of electrons and holes
L.V. Keldysh (1968)

polariton laser macroscopic occupation of coupled exciton-photon mode thermal equilibrium is not required
A. Imamoglu, R.J. Ram, S. Pau, Y. Yamamoto (1996)

Bose Einstein condensate in dilute exciton gas (naBD << 1) excitons are (interacting) Bose particles similar to hydrogen atoms below Tc thermal distribution of excitons leads to their condensation in k-space
L.V. Keldysh, A.N. Kozlov (1968)

excitonic insulator (BCS-like condensate) in dense electron-hole system (naBD >> 1) excitons are similar to Cooper pairs below Tc electrons and holes bind to pairs excitons forming BCS-like condensate
L.V. Keldysh, Yu.E. Kopaev (1964)

T _ + + _
exciton gas k-space condensation BEC of bosons
D~

pairing of fermions BCS

electron-hole plasma

_
e&h Fermi-surfaces matched mismatched

_ +

+ n

naB 1 transition from BEC to BCS can occur with increasing density transition from BEC or BCS to laser can occur with increasing coupling of excitons to photons

P.B. Littlewood, P.R. Eastham, J.M.J. Keeling, F.M. Marchetti, B.D. Simons, M.H. Szymanska, J. Phys. 16, S3597 (2004)

Experimental systems
electron-hole liquid polariton laser

Ge Si
Bose Einstein condensate

Microcavity polaritons

excitonic insulator (BCS-like condensate)

Cu2O Indirect excitons in CQW

Electron-electron bilayers in high magnetic fields at n =1

 2 =2 dB = mk BT

1/ 2

What temperature is cold for exciton gas?

transition from classical to quantum gas takes place when thermal de Broglie wavelength is comparable to interparticle separation
3D: dB = n 1 3

2 = 2 3 TdB = n mk B
2

TBEC = 0.527TdB

mexciton ~ matom Kelvin for excitons is like microKelvin for atoms

10 -6

2D: dB = n 1 2

2 = 2 TdB = n~3K mk B

3D gas of Rb atoms: n = 1015 cm-3, matom = 105 me TdB ~ 510-6 K

2D gas of excitons in GaAs QW n = 1010 cm-2, mexciton= 0.2 me TdB ~ 3 K

n < nMott ~ 1/aB2 ~ 21011 cm-2

estimates for characteristic temperatures for cold 2D Bose gases

dB is comparable to interexcitonic separation 2 = 2 n TdB = 3K 2 dB n =1 Mk B
temperature of quantum degeneracy N E = 0 = exp (TdB T0 = TdB 3K BEC in finite 2D system 1 TcS = TdB 0.3K ln ( nS )
T ) 1

for n = 1010 cm-2 per spin state ( < nMott ~ 1/aB2 ~ 1011 cm-2), M = 0.22 m0

thermal de Broglie wavelength

2= 2 dB = Mk T B
1/ 2

160nm

at T=1 K

A.L. Ivanov, P.B. Littlewood, H. Haug, PRB 59, 5032 (1999) Yu.M. Kagan, lectures W. Ketterle, N.J. van Drutten, PRA 54, 656 (1996)

for N=nS~105

superfuid density ns / n

temperature of onset of local superfluidity Bogoliubov temperature 1 Tc = TdB 1.7 K onset of nonzero order parameter ln ln(1/ na 2 )
lnln(1/na2)=13 for 1/na2=10-108 for lnln(1/na2)=1.5
pairing of vortices = onset of macroscopic superfluidity which is not destroyed by vortices

V.N. Popov, Theor. Math. Phys. 11, 565 (1972) D.S. Fisher, P.C. Hohenberg, PRB 37, 4936 (1988)
1

Kosterlitz-Thouless temperature
T K T TdB ln ln (1 / n a 2 ) 1K 1 + ln ln (1 / n a 2 )

TBEC=0

TKT TB

for not so dilute gas

T c T dB

1 0 .6 K ln ( 4 ) + ln ln (1 / n a 2 )

N. Prokofev, O. Ruebenacker, B. Svistunov, PRL 87, 270402 (2001)

380

How to realize cold exciton gas ?

Tlattice << 1 K in He refrigerators finite lifetime of excitons could result to high exciton temperature: TX > Tlattice find excitons with lifetime >> cooling time TX ~ Tlattice

Why indirect excitons in CQW ?

AlxGa1-xAs GaAs e h

103-106 times longer exciton lifetime due to separation between electron and hole layers
GaAs/AlGaAs CQW
realization of cold exciton gas in separated layers was proposed by Yu.E. Lozovik & V.I. Yudson (1975); S. I. Shevchenko (1976); T. Fukuzawa, S.S. Kano, T.K. Gustafson, T. Ogawa (1990)

103 times shorter exciton cooling time than that in bulk semiconductors
e
A.L. Ivanov, P.B. Littlewood, H. Haug (1990)

E z

AlAs/GaAs CQW

TX ~ 100 mK has been realized experimentally 30 times below TdB

3D: coupling of E=0 state to single state E=E0 2D: coupling of E=0 state to continuum of energy states E > E0 effective cooling of 2D excitons by bulk phonons TX

exciton energy relaxation by LA-phonon emission

exciton dispersion

E0=2Mxvs ~ 0.05 meV E K

1 0.1

~ 10 ns to cool to 300 mK ~ 100 ns to cool to 100 mK

0 50 100 Time (ns)

A.L. Ivanov et al in PRL 86, 5608 (2001)

high quality CQW samples with small in-plane disorder are required to overcome exciton localization

Repulsive interaction between indirect excitons

e

Dipole-dipole repulsive interaction stabilizes exciton state against formation of metallic electron-hole droplets
D. Yoshioka, A.H. MacDonald, J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 59, 4211 (1990) X. Zhu, P.B. Littlewood, M. Hybertsen, T. Rice, PRL 74, 1633 (1995)

+ +

_ _

the ground state of the system is excitonic results in effective screening of in-plane disorder
A.L. Ivanov, EPL 59, 586 (2002) R. Zimmermann presentation by Leonidas Mouchliadis

indirect excitons are oriented dipoles

Wex=4 W/cm 2 Wex=0.5 W/cm
2

PL Intensity

Repulsive interaction in experiment: Exciton energy increases with density

L.V. Butov, A. Zrenner, G. Bohm, G. Weimann, J. de Physique 3, 167 (1993).

energy shift: E ~ 4ne2d/ estimate for exciton density approximation for short-range 1/r3 interaction
C. Schindler, R. Zimmermann, arXiv:0802.3337 [PRB 78, 045313 (2008)]
1.54 1.55 1.56 1.57

Energy (eV)

density is higher

What is observed when the gas of indirect excitons is cooled ?

Phenomena observed in cold gases of indirect excitons

Narrowing of exciton emission linewidth

before this conference

T. Fukuzawa, E.E. Mendez, J.M. Hong, PRL 64, 3066 (1990); J.A. Kash, M. Zachau, E.E. Mendez, J.M. Hong, T. Fukuzawa, PRL 66, 2247 (1991).

Enhancement of exciton radiative decay, mobility, emission fluctuation

0.12
0.020

0.10

r -1 (ns - 1)

0.015 0.010 12 0.005 8 4 0 5 4 ) 3 re (K 2 pe ratu Te m 0.000 6

eti c gn Ma

0.06
8 4 0

12

0.04 0.02 5 6 4 (K) 3 rat u re pe Te m

-1 (ns - 1)

0.08

L.V. Butov, A. Zrenner, G. Bohm, G. Weimann, J. de Physique 3, 167 (1993); L.V. Butov, A. Zrenner, G. Abstreiter, G. Bohm, G. Weimann, PRL 73, 304 (1994); L.V. Butov, A.I. Filin, PRB 58, 1980 (1998).

tic gne Ma

ld Fi e

ld ( F ie

(T)

T)

Enhancement of polarization degree

A.V. Larionov, V.B. Timofeev, J. Hvam, K. Soerensen, JETP 90, 1093 (2000).

Appearance of narrow line(s) in PL

A.V. Larionov, V.B. Timofeev, P.A. Ni, S.V. Dubonos, I. Hvam, K. Soerensen JETP Letters, 75, 570 (2002).

Enhancement of exciton scattering rate to low energy states

L.V. Butov, A.L. Ivanov, A. Imamoglu, P.B. Littlewood, A.A. Shashkin, V.T. Dolgopolov, K.L. Campman, A.C. Gossard, PRL 86, 5608 (2001)
50 100 150

Modulation of exciton density in ring, formation of ordered exciton state

L.V. Butov, A.C. Gossard, D.S. Chemla, cond-mat/0204482 [Nature 418, 751 (2002)]

Enhancement of the exciton coherence length, beyond classical value

Sen Yang, A. Hammack, M.M. Fogler, L.V. Butov, A.C. Gossard, cond-mat/0606683 [PRL 97, 187402 (2006)].
800.4 801.0 801.6

anticipated phenomenon in the cold exciton gas - exciton BEC

expected specific properties of exciton BEC: macroscopic occupation of one state experiment:
measurement of the state occupations by spatially and angularly resolved PL exciton condensate superradiance (macroscopic dipole)

macroscopic phase coherence exciton superfluidity bosonic stimulation of exciton scattering

interference of condensates coherence of emitted light exciton transport exciton kinetics

0.0 10

12

0 .005

8 4 0
(T)

enhancement of exciton
Butov et al. PRL 73, 304 (1994) PRB 58, 1980 (1998) PRL 86, 5608 (2001) Sen Yang et al. PRL 97, 187402 (2006)

0 .06
12 8 4 0

0.04 0.02 6 5 4 ( K) 3 ature er p Tem

scattering rate with increasing density

50 100 150

-1 (ns -1)

mobility

5 4 ) 3 re (K 2 er atu Temp

0.000 6
0.12 0 .10 0 .08

r 1 (ns -1)
-

experimental evidence for phenomena expected for exciton BEC are observed below TdB consistent with onset of radiative decay rate superradiance
0.0 20 0.0 15
gn Ma c eti ld Fie

superfluidity stimulated scattering coherence

gn Ma

cF eti ield

(T )

coherence length
800.4 801.0 801.6

http://physics.ucsd.edu/~lvbutov/

maintained by Aaron Hammack

coupled electron and hole layers

e

electron-electron bilayers in high magnetic fields at =1

collective electron state in QH bilayers at =1 J.P. Eisenstein, G.S. Boebinger, L.N. Pfeiffer, K.W. West, S. He, PRL 68, 1383 (1992)
particle-hole transformation

e = 1 2 + e = 1 2

e = 1 2 + h = 1 2

exciton + 1_ 2 superradiance r ~ ( < ) + _

collective electron state exciton condensate

J.P. Eisenstein, A.H. MacDonald, Nature 432, 691 (2004)

enhancement of radiative decay rate of excitons

0.020

enhancement of tunneling rate of electrons

0.010 12 8 4 0 0.005 5 4 3 ( K) re u 2 t p er a Te m 0.000 6

g Ma

L.V. Butov, A.I. Filin, PRB 58, 1980 (1998)

r -1 (n s -1)

0.015

ield ic F net

I.B. Spielman, J.P. Eisenstein, L.N. Pfeiffer, K.W. West, PRL 84, 5808 (2000)

(T)

recombination of excitons

tunneling of electrons

? for both: exciton in the initial state, no exciton in the final state

particle hole transformation implies similarity

new phenomena which were not anticipated

pattern formation
spatially localized exciton cloud
Butov et al. Nature 417, 47 (2002)

exciton rings macroscopically ordered exciton state

Butov et al. Nature, 418, 751 (2002)

new phenomena which were not anticipated

pattern formation
spatially localized exciton cloud (LBS)
Butov et al. Nature 417, 47 (2002)

exciton rings macroscopically ordered exciton state

Butov et al. Nature, 418, 751 (2002)

spontaneous coherence
Sen Yang et al. PRL 97, 187402 (2006) arXiv:0804.2686v1 presentation by Sen Yang
800.4 801.0 801.6

commensurability of exciton density wave

=6
0.03

=5

presentation by Sen Yang

0.02

1.24

1.26

1.28

Gate Voltage (V)

kinetics of inner ring

presentation by Aaron Hammack

kinetics of external ring & LBS rings

presentation by Sen Yang

Trapping and control of cold exciton gases

optical traps for excitons
A. Hammack et al. PRL 96, 227402 (2006) PRB 76, 193308 (2007) presentation by Aaron Hammack

electrostatic traps for excitons

presentation by Alex High

excitonic devices
A. High et al. Science 321, 229 (2008) presentation by Alex High

cooling, localization, & interaction

180 eV

A. High et al. arXiv:0804.4886v1 presentation by Alex High

1.563

1.567

spin transport of excitons

J.R. Leonard et al. arXiv:0808.2402v1

Pattern Formation
external ring inner ring

same
Position on the ring (m)

800

PL intensity

400

ring fragmentation

localized bright spots

410 m

position on the ring ( m)

100

200

300

400

500

Peak number

20

40

exciton state with spatial order on macroscopic lengths

Macroscopically Ordered Exciton State (MOES)

L.V. Butov, A.C. Gossard, and D.S. Chemla, cond-mat/0204482 [Nature 418, 751 (2002)]

Temperature dependence of ring fragmentation

T=1.8 K
Amplitude of the Fourier Transform

ring fragmentation into spatially ordered array of beads appears abruptly at low T

0 0

4 T (K)

T=4.7 K

high T

low T

low-T phenomenon observed below a few K where exciton gas is degenerate

presentation by Sen Yang

observed features in exciton PL pattern inner ring external ring localized bright spots MOES

high-T phenomena observed up to tens of K where exciton gas is classical their origin is classical

inner rings exciton transport and cooling

presentation by Aaron Hammack L.V. Butov, A.C. Gossard, and D.S. Chemla, cond-mat/0204482 [Nature 418, 751 (2002)]
A.L. Ivanov, L. Smallwood, A. Hammack, Sen Yang, L.V. Butov, A.C. Gossard, cond-mat/0509097 [EPL 73, 920 (2006)]

external rings and LBS in-plane charge separation

presentation by Sen Yang

L.V. Butov, L.S. Levitov, B.D. Simons, A.V. Mintsev, A.C. Gossard, D.S. Chemla, cond-mat/0308117 [PRL 92, 117404 (2004)] R. Rapaport, G. Chen, D. Snoke, S.H. Simon, L. Pfeiffer, K.West, Y.Liu, S.Denev, cond-mat/0308150 [PRL 92, 117405 (2004)]

indirect exciton PL

direct exciton PL pattern of hot spots

localized bright spots have hot cores no hot spots in the ring

external ring is far from hot excitation spot due to long lifetimes of indirect excitons TX Tlattice

external ring is the region where the cold and dense exciton gas is created

macroscopically ordered exciton state

Coherence
presentation by Sen Yang

Probe of spontaneous coherence (not driven by laser excitation)

Spontaneous coherence for the MOES ? far from laser in space and in energy: coherence is spontaneous experimental method: Mach-Zehnder interferometry with spatial and spectral resolution

left arm

right arm

Sen Yang, A. Hammack, M.M. Fogler, L.V. Butov, A.C. Gossard, cond-mat/0606683 [PRL 97, 187402 (2006)].

Emergence of spontaneous coherence of excitons at low temperatures

PL intensity
2.2 K

3.8 K

0 0
Interference Visibility
0.3 0.2 0.1 2

9.1 K

100 x ( m)

200

2.2 K 3.8 K 9.1 K

an enhancement of the exciton coherence length is observed at temperatures below a few Kelvin the increase of the coherence length is correlated with the macroscopic spatial ordering of excitons at T=2 K the exciton coherence length ~ 2 m strongly exceeds the classical value ~ dB ~ 0.1 m

800 802 Wavelength (nm)

0.3

0.2

10

0.1

10

Temperature (K)

M ( m)

20

30

PL Contrast along the Ring

Coherence Length (m)

~ 2 m spread of the exciton momentum distribution k ~ 104 cm-1

is much smaller than that for a classical exciton gas kcl ~ 2mkB T = ~ 3 105 cm1 at T = 2K

nk = d 2 re ikr g (1) ( r )
a condensate in k-space

k ~ 1

800.4

801.0

801.6

4 6 8 Temperature (K)

0 10

Puzzle of broad linewidth indirect excitons in CQW ~ 1.2 meV

inverse
0
2.2 K 3.8 K 9.1 K

~ 2 m

phase-breaking time

800 802 Wavelength (nm)

linewidth c ~ 1 ps

= 2 D ~ a few ns
for D ~ 10 cm 2 s

rec ~ 40 ns

Sen Yang et al, cond-mat/0606683 [PRL 97, 187402 (2006)] J. Kasprzak et al., Nature 443, 409 (2006)

polaritons in MC

spatial correlation measurements using a Michelson interferometer

broad linewidth for polariton condensate above threshold suggested explanation: due to density fluctuations D.N. Krizhanovskii et al, this conference width of tunneling peak > kBT

e-e bilayers

I.B. Spielman, J.P. Eisenstein, L.N. Pfeiffer, K.W. West, PRL 84, 5808 (2000)

Effect of finite spatial resolution

Finite spatial resolution * = k-filtering effect @

NA=sin

optical coherence length

1 = + 2 Q
2 x

x exciton coherence length

1 Abbe limit 0 spatial resolution = = Q 2 NA
10
D M1

Coherence Length (m)

without taking into account spatial resolution taking into account spatial resolution
1 Q
2 4 6 8 10

Temperature (K)
L. Mouchliadis, A. L. Ivanov, arXiv:0802.4454 [PRB 78, 033306 (2008)] * M.M. Fogler, Sen Yang, A.T. Hammack, L.V. Butov, A.C. Gossard, arXiv:0804.2686 [PRB 78, 035411 (2008)]
@

What we know about the macroscopically ordered exciton state

MOES is a state with: macroscopic spatial ordering large coherence length a condensate in k-space
spread of the exciton momentum distribution is much smaller than that for a classical exciton gas

observed in a cold exciton gas at low temperatures below a few K in a system of indirect excitons in the external ring far from hot excitation spot observed in external ring on interface between hole-rich area and electron-rich area characterized by repulsive interaction ( not driven by attractive interaction)

Amplitude of the Fourier Transform

4 T (K)

not observed for inner ring

+ +

_ _

repulsive interaction of oriented dipoles

Sen Yang et al., PRB 75, 033311 (2007)

Theoretical model for MOES consistent with the experimental observations

instability requires positive feedback to density variations

instability can result from quantum degeneracy in a cold exciton system due to stimulated kinetics of exciton formation

ne = De 2ne wne nh + J e t nh = Dh 2 nh wne nh + J h t n X = DX 2 n X + wne nh n X opt t

w ~ 1 + N E =0 = e

TdB T

=e

2 =2 nx mgk BT

L.S. Levitov, B.D. Simons, L.V. Butov, PRL 94, 176404 (2005)

Trapping and control of cold exciton gases

with laser light with laterally modulated gate voltage
presentation by Aaron Hammack

Excitonic devices methods which allow fast control on timescale much shorter than exciton lifetime

Laser induced traps for excitons

laser E laser
low density

experimental implementation of this idea

trap can be switched on and off no heating in the trap center excitons are cold in the trap ability to form various potential patterns

trap profile
high density

100 m
A. Hammack, M. Griswold, L.V. Butov, A.L. Ivanov, L. Smallwood, A.C. Gossard, cond-mat/0603597 [PRL 96, 227402 (2006)]

Exciton collection to the laser induced trap

Pex = 75 W Vg = -1.2 V = 4 ns

50 (ns)

experiment

theory

PL in excitation ring PL at trap center

observed hierarchy of times (exciton cooling time) < (trap loading time) < (exciton lifetime in the trap) cooling to 1.5 K < 4 ns loading ~ 40 ns lifetime ~ 50 ns 10 s is favorable for creating a dense and cold exciton gas in the traps and its control in situ
A. Hammack, L.V. Butov, L. Mouchliadis, A. L. Ivanov A.C. Gossard, PRB 76, 193308 (2007)

Trapping and control of cold exciton gases

with laser light with laterally modulated gate voltage

Excitonic devices

presentation by Alex High

methods which allow fast control on timescale much shorter than exciton lifetime

the ability to control electron fluxes by an applied gate voltage electronic devices mesoscopics
the field which concerns electron transport in a potential relief

potential energy of indirect excitons can be controlled by an applied gate voltage virtually any in-plane potential relief can be created for excitons by the appropriately designed voltage pattern, e.g. traps, quantum point contacts, lattices
E = eFz d

this relief can be rapidly controlled in-situ by varying the electrode voltages

the ability to control exciton fluxes by an applied gate voltage excitonic devices mesoscopics of bosons in semiconductors

First electrostatic traps for indirect excitons

S. Zimmermann, A. Govorov, W. Hansen, J. Kotthaus, M. Bichler, W. Wegscheider, PRB 56, 13414 (1997) T. Huber, A. Zrenner, W. Wegscheider, M Bichler. Phys. Stat. Sol. (a) 166, R5 (1998)

Experimental obstacle in early works in-plane electric field dissociated excitons Solution: to position CQW layers closer to the homogeneous bottom electrode
1999 calculations 2005 experiment A.T. Hammack, N.A. Gippius, Sen Yang, G.O. Andreev, L.V. Butov, M. Hanson, A.C. Gossard, cond-mat/0504045 [JAP 99, 066104 (2006)] CQW far from top gate reduces in plane field, Fr no exciton dissociation

dissociation rate vs Fr

D.A.B. Miller, D.S. Chemla, T.C. Damen, A.C. Gossard, W. Wiegmann, T.H. Wood, C.A. Burrus, PRB 32, 1043 (1985)

eFr aex << Eex

Photon storage

store photons in the form of indirect excitons storage and release of photons is controlled by gate voltage pulses

prototype of storage device reaches sub-ns switching time and several s storage time
A.G. Winbow, A.T. Hammack, L.V. Butov, and A.C. Gossard, Nano Letters 7, 1349 (2007) A.G. Winbow, L.V. Butov, and A.C. Gossard, arXiv:0807.4920v1

Exciton Optoelectronic Transistor (EXOT)

photonic source optical input gate Gate photonic drain optical output gate i n
Exciton energy
~160 ps 9 0/10 ~400 ps

5 m drain gate source

OFF

ON

QWs

Intensity

energy bump controlled by the Gate exciton flow is off exciton flow is on

photon input photon output electronic control

ON

OFF

20

7.0

7.5

Distance ( m)

Time (ns)

similar in geometry and operation to electronic FET

prototype of EXOT reaches a contrast ratio > 30 between ON and OFF state with operation at speeds > 1 GHz

A.A. High, A.T. Hammack, L.V. Butov, M. Hanson, A.C. Gossard, Opt. Lett. 32, 2466 (2007) A.A. High, E.E. Novitskaya, L.V. Butov, M. Hanson, A.C. Gossard, Science 321, 229 (2008)

Control of Exciton Fluxes. Excitonic circuits.

right path open left path open both paths open

Directional Switch Flux of excitons photoexcited at is directed by gate control.

0
two paths open three paths open excitons in the trap one path open

Star Switch Flux of excitons photoexcited at is directed by gate control. Flux merger Two fluxes of excitons photoexcited at are combined by gate control. The device can implement sum operation and logic AND gate with 1 set at Poutput=Pleft+Pright and 0 at Poutput<Pleft+Pright excitonic circuits perform operations on excitons that can be also viewed as operations on photons using excitons as intermediate media
A.A. High, E.E. Novitskaya, L.V. Butov, M. Hanson, A.C. Gossard, Science 321, 229 (2008)

0 1

Poutput=Pleft

Poutput=Pright
left on right on left off right off

Poutput=Pleft+Pright

directional switch

10 m

g1 1 g3

Intensity

g2 2 4 3

flux merger
left+right left right

20

l , m

image of gates

Application of electrostatic traps

formed by laterally modulated gate voltage

cooling localization interaction

presentation by Alex High

T (K)

Cooling excitons beyond temperature, which can be reached by phonon cooling

T phonon ~ 100 mK
0 50 100
Time (ns)

0.1

<< TdB ~ 3K

Evaporative cooling
Excitons with higher energy easier escape trap. This increases relative occupation of lower energy states cooling of exciton gas

Elevated trap cooling

Trap at potential energy that is higher than potential energy at excitation Photoexcited hot excitons lose kinetic energy as they travel up potential energy hill cooling of excitons

laser

laser

x
A.T. Hammack, N.A. Gippius, Sen Yang, G.O. Andreev, L.V. Butov, M. Hanson, A.C. Gossard, cond-mat/0504045 [JAP 99, 066104 (2006)]

somehow similar to Sisyphus cooling used to cool atoms below the Doppler limit

Using elevated trap for studying individual exciton states in disorder potential
elevated trap technique
real trap Et < Esurr elevated trap e Et > Esurr
 introduce effective temperature T ) =n n ~ exp ( k T
deloc

s1 g2 s2 t

g1
y

10 m 1
x

disorder is an intrinsic feature of CM materials

g3

h loc

s3

experiment: ~ 10; kB ~ 10 K ; 1.56  ~ 3K T  ~ 1.8 K T

norm elev

Energy (eV)

'cooling efficiency' = norm elev  =1 T  + ( k ) ln 1T elev norm B

real trap

in-plane disorder potential in QWs forms mainly due to QW width and alloy 0 fluctuations

PL Intensity

1.548

1.552
E x

estimate: 1.52 rate equations

Electrode is small forVoltage DX (V) can be large for IX

1 1 loc

esc , = 1 + -5

1  +0 opt =

intermediate regime
1.564 2 180 elevated eV trap 3 4
1.563

1.568 1

sharp lines emerge at the transition from the real trap to elevated trap

I2/I1

real trap
0 -10 0

elevated trap
10 20

Energy (eV)

1.567

emission of individual exciton states localized in local minima of disorder potential (2-4) and delocalized exciton states (1)

A.A. High, A. T. Hammack, L.V. Butov, L. Mouchliadis, A. L. Ivanov, M. Hanson, and A.C. Gossard, arXiv:0804.4886v1

Et - Eg (meV)

Vt= -.70V

2x

T=10K

-.65V

2x Intensity (arb. units)

7.0K

Intensity (arb. units)

-.60V

2x

5.1K

E = eFz d

-.55V

2x 2 1

4.5K

-.50V

1x 1.562

2.7K 1.568

d 10.7 nm d nominal
Energy (eV)

4 1.562

1 1.567 1 2 3 4

1.567

Energy (eV)

2.5

Energy (eV)

relative intensity of lines 2-4 in the elevated trap regime reduces with increasing Tbath
10

1.560

-0.7

-0.5

Trap voltage (V)

I2/I1 0.0 0

Temperature (K)

1140 W

1x

n (cm-2)
10
8

2x10

7x10

Density dependence
FWHM ( eV) FWHM ( eV) FWHM ( eV)
1400 800 200 1800
1200 600 0 200

FWHM ( eV)

470 W

1400 800 200 1.567 1.566 1.565 10 10 10 10

5 4

exp

2x

(4) (5)

theory

deloc loc
sum

150 W

9x

Energy (eV)

36 W
4 3 2 1

38x

deloc

hom

(1)

(3)
inhom
sum

9.1 W

60x

PL Intensity

1.65 W

450x

3 2

100

loc

8 m

y E

(2)
10
0

inelastic elastic

1.562

1.569 1.562

1.569

Energy (eV)

Energy (eV)

Pex (W)

10

10

10

0.0

0.5 1.0 10 -2 (10 cm )

(1) Energy increases due to repulsive ex-ex interaction. (2) Intensity saturates: no more than one exciton can occupy potential minimum due to dipole blockade (3) Disorder potential is effectively screened due to ex-ex interaction. (4) Homogeneous broadening due to ex-ex interaction increases with density and dominates the linewidth at high densities. (5) Homogeneous broadening is lower for localized excitons. Localization suppresses scattering.

Diamond-shaped traps
Circle Trap
D

3 m circle trap

20 m circle trap
D

single electrode trap potential parabolic for

small radii (<3m) potential box-shaped for large radii

Conical Trap
Concentric Rings Trap

Elevated Trap

Multiple electrodes allow

versatile shaping of radially symmetric potential profile

Distance from trap center (m)

Diamond-Shaped Trap

Hammack et al., J. Appl. Phys. 99, 066104 (2006).

Single electrode creates

parabolic trapping potential even for large lengths can collect many excitons to the trap center can be operated by a single electrode

20 m diamond trap

Elevated Diamond Trap: Density Dependence

low density high density
x (m)

Energy (meV)

Distance from trap center (m)

<p> (ns)

Exciton spin transport optically active states emission polarization

r
S z = 1 1 3 + e, h 2 2

10

r
ex
S z = +1 1 3 e,+ h 2 2

<P> (%)

P=

5 10 0 0 10

p is large p drops with T

p +r
1 1

e
S z = 2 1 3 e, h 2 2

e h
S z = +2 1 3 + e,+ h 2 2

polarization relaxation time

p = 2 ( e + h ) + ex
1

Tbath (K)
0 0 5 10

c
Tbath (K)
rcloud (m)

dark states

P p =r 1 P
30

<P> (%)

fast spin relaxation

ex is short for direct excitons

20 10 0

p drops with n
ltravel increases with n
100 1000

20

long spin relaxation time for IX

15

10

100

1000

PHWHM (%)

due to small exchange interaction ex is much larger for IX

10

Pex (W)

10

30 20 10 0 0 10

Pex (W)

<p> (ns)

+ long-range transport of IX spin transport of IX

J.R. Leonard, Sen Yang, L.V. Butov, A.C. Gossard, arXiv:0808.2451v1

b
10

rcloud (m)

20

PHWHM/ Pmax

polarization is observed up to several m away from the excitation spot spin transport of excitons

0.5 0 10 20

0 1 10 100

nr=0 (109/cm2)

rcloud (m)

Status of experiments on cold excitons in CQW nanostructures

Cold exciton gases with T << TdB were realized experimentally Experimental evidence for phenomena expected for exciton BEC was observed below TdB :
consistent with onset of superradiance superfluidity stimulated scattering
50 100 150
0. 02 0

radiative decay rate enhancement of exciton mobility scattering rate with increasing density coherence length

-1 (ns -1

0.0 15 0.0 10 12 0.0 05 4 0

(T) ic F net M ag

8 5 4 ) 3 ure (K 2 pe rat Tem

0.0 00 6
0.1 2 0 .10

0. 06
12

0. 04
4 0

4 5 K) 3 re( era tu Te mp

0.0 2 6

-1 (ns-1 )

0 .08

PRL 73, 304 (1994) PRB 58, 1980 (1998) PRL 86, 5608 (2001) PRL 97, 187402 (2006)

spontaneous coherence
800.4 801.0 801.6

A new low-temperature state the macroscopically ordered exciton state was observed

ie ld

ld Fi e tic g ne Ma

(T )

Nature 418, 751 (2002)

Status of control of excitons

Trapping of excitons in laser induced traps was demonstrated Observed hierarchy of times cooling << loading << rec is favorable for in situ control of cold exciton gases Excitonic storage device was demonstrated Prototype reaches ns switching time and several s storage time Exciton optoelectronic transistor (EXOT) was demonstrated Prototype performs switching with contrast ratio > 100 between ON and OFF state with operation at speeds > 1 GHz. Simple excitonic integrated circuits (EXIC) were demonstrated Prototype performs operations with exciton fluxes such as directional switching and merging
OFF ON

PRL 96, 227402 (2006) PRB 76, 193308 (2007)

Nano Lett. 7, 1349 (2007)

Science 321, 229 (2008)

Possible future applications for control of excitons

For studying physics of cold excitons cold bosons in CM materials For building devices operating with excitons in place of electrons
The direct coupling of the photons, used in communication, to excitons, used as the device operation media, may lead to the development of efficient optoelectronic devices that utilize excitons
arXiv:0804.4886v1
1.563 1.567

Application: Traps were used for studying individual exciton states in disorder potential

Acknowledgements UCSD Group: Aaron Hammack Alex High Jason Leonard Mikas Remeika Alex Winbow Sen Yang Martin Griswold James Lohner Katya Novitskaya Averi Thomas Joe Graves Visiting scientists: Nikolai Gippius Anton Mintsev supported by ARO, NSF, DOE Collaborators: Gerhard Abstreiter, WSI, Germany Daniel Chemla, UCB&LBNL Valerii Dolgopolov, ISSP RAS Alexander Dzyubenko, CSB Michael Fogler, UCSD Arthur Gossard, UCSB Atac Imamoglu, UCSB Alexei Ivanov, Cardiff University, UK Leonid Levitov, MIT Peter Littlewood, Cambridge, UK Yuri Lozovik, IS RAS Ben Simons, Cambridge, UK Arthur Zrenner, WSI, Germany