| EPSRC Reference: |
GR/N18598/01 |
| Title: |
EXPLOITING STIMULATED SCATTERING AND DISPERSION ENGINEERING IN SEMICONDUCTOR MICROCAVITIES |
| Principal Investigator: |
Baumberg, Professor JJ |
| Other Investigators: |
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| Project Partners: |
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| Department: |
Sch of Physics and Astronomy |
| Organisation: |
University of Southampton |
| Scheme: |
Standard Research (Pre-FEC) |
| Starts: |
01 October 2000 |
Ends: |
30 June 2004 |
Value (£): |
343,347
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| EPSRC Research Topic Classifications: |
| Condensed Matter Physics |
Optoelect. Devices & Circuits |
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| EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications: |
| Communications |
Electronics |
| No relevance to Underpinning Sectors |
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| Panel History: |
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Summary on Grant Application Form |
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In the course of our initial fast track grant, we have discovered a new optical gain process that occurs in semiconductor microcavities. These optoelectronically-engineered heterostructures are designed to strongly couple confined protons and excitons in semiconductor quantum wells. The gain we measure is astoundingly large, resonant at specific angles, and exhibits scattering exponentially-enhanced by occupation of the final states. The aim of this programme is to exploit the new physics of the stimulated scattering process to provide novel amplifying structures.In conventional semiconductor emitters, injected charge carriers lose energy and cool to the band edge where they eventually recombine releasing a photon. However in microcavities, the dispersion relation of the mixed exciton-photon 'polariton' is strongly distorted, allowing entirely new phenomena. The single-step stimulated energy transfer we have found directly releases carriers into the lowest energy state. This programme will determine the microscopic mechanisms, allowing their optimisation. We also aim to build a polariton oscillator, to produce a large population of phase-coherent electron-hole pairs in a single state, analogous to Bose condensation. By introducing wavelength scale periodicities, we can further manipulate the dispersion relation enabling quasi-atomic behaviour, such as precision interferometers and polariton trapping.
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Key Findings |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Potential use in non-academic contexts |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Impacts |
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| Description |
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk |
| Summary |
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| Date Materialised |
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Sectors submitted by the Researcher |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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| Project URL: |
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| Further Information: |
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| Organisation Website: |
http://www.soton.ac.uk |