Polariton multistability and fast linear-to-circular polarization conversion in planar microcavities with lowered symmetry

The multistability of cavity-polariton systems with lowered symmetry (e.g., in laterally strained microcavities) allows implementing a few picoseconds long switching from linear to almost circular polarization of the cavity transmission under a resonant linearly polarized optical pump with slowly changing intensity. This effect has been observed in a high-Q GaAs microcavity using spectrally narrow 70 ps long pump pulses. (C) 2013 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4773523]