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  • Letter
  • Open Access

Cavity-induced exciton localization and polariton blockade in two-dimensional semiconductors coupled to an electromagnetic resonator

Emil V. Denning1,2,3,*, Martijn Wubs1,2,4, Nicolas Stenger1,2,4, Jesper Mørk1,2, and Philip Trøst Kristensen1,2

  • 1Department of Photonics Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
  • 2NanoPhoton - Center for Nanophotonics, Technical University of Denmark, Ørsteds Plads 345A, DK-2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
  • 3Nichtlineare Optik und Quantenelektronik, Institut für Theoretische Physik, Technische Universität Berlin, 10623 Berlin, Germany
  • 4Center for Nanostructured Graphene, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark

  • *emvo@fotonik.dtu.dk
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Phys. Rev. Research 4, L012020 – Published 17 February, 2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.4.L012020

Abstract

Recent experiments have demonstrated strong light–matter coupling between electromagnetic nanoresonators and pristine sheets of two-dimensional semiconductors, and it has been speculated whether these systems can enter the quantum regime operating at the few-polariton level. To address this question, we present a microscopic quantum theory for the interaction between excitons in a sheet of two-dimensional material and a localized electromagnetic resonator. We find that the light–matter interaction breaks the symmetry of the otherwise translation-invariant system and thereby effectively generates a localized exciton mode, which is coupled to an environment of residual exciton modes. This dissipative coupling increases with tighter lateral confinement, and our analysis reveals this to be a potential challenge in realizing nonlinear exciton-exciton interaction. Nonetheless, we predict that polariton blockade due to nonlinear exciton-exciton interactions is well within reach for nanoresonators coupled to transition-metal dichalcogenides, provided that the lateral confinement can be sufficiently tight to make the nonlinearity overcome the polariton dephasing caused by phonon interactions.

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Quantum theory of two-dimensional materials coupled to electromagnetic resonators

Emil V. Denning, Martijn Wubs, Nicolas Stenger, Jesper Mørk, and Philip Trøst Kristensen
Phys. Rev. B 105, 085306 (2022)

Article Text

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Phys. Rev. Research 4, L012020– Published 17 February, 2022
  • Received 26 March 2021
  • Revised 13 January 2022
  • Accepted 14 January 2022
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