Speaker
Description
Planar optical microcavities provide an excellent platform for studying the evolution of two-dimensional (2D) photonic wave packets in the presence of synthetic fields. Numerous experimental methods of probing the light that escapes the cavity, including its phase and polarization, enable direct comparison between the measurements and theoretical predictions. Recently, theoretical description of wave packet evolution in optical microcavities was extended to take into account their inherent open-dissipative nature. Such theoretical investigations use a non-Hermitian Hamiltonian to describe the system and predict novel, up to now unobserved, effects arising directly from the non-Hermicity like self-acceleration [1] and corrections to the anomalous Hall drift [2].
In this work, we focus on experimental verification of these predictions using a planar microcavity filled with a birefringent liquid crystal (LC). Optical anisotropy of the LC results in separate cavity modes with specific polarizations and differing decay rates. In addition, the sensitivity of the LC to the external electric fields brings unique possibility to tune the cavity modes by voltage applied to the transparent electrodes built-in into the cavity. All these properties make this system uniquely suitable for investigation of non-Hermitian effects on the propagation of photonic wave packets inside the cavity. Specifically, we measure the centre-of-mass position as well as the pseudospin of a laser pulse injected and propagating inside a cavity and observe clear deviations from Hermitian dynamics, such as nonharmonic pseudospin oscillations leading to nonharmonic Zitterbewegung effect.
References
[1] Y.-M. Robin Hu et al., Phys. Rev. B 108, 115404 (2023).
[2] Y.-M. Robin Hu et al., Opt. Mater. Express 14, 664-686 (2024).
Short bio (50 words) or link to website
Mateusz Król is a post-doc in Polariton BEC group at Australian National University. He finished his PhD in 2022 at University of Warsaw, where he worked on exciton-polaritons and microcavities filled with liquid crystals.
| Career stage | Postdoc |
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