title: Polarization bistability and resultant spin rings in semiconductor microcavities.
abstract: The transmission of a pump laser resonant with the lower polariton branch of a semiconductor microcavity is shown to be highly dependent on the degree of circular polarization of the pump. Spin dependent anisotropy of polariton-polariton interactions allows the internal polarization to be controlled by varying the pump power. The formation of spatial patterns, spin rings with a high degree of circular polarization, arising as a result of polarization bistability, is observed. A phenomenological model based on effective semiclassical equations of motion provides a good description of the experimental results. Inclusion of interactions with the incoherent exciton reservoir, which provides spin-independent blueshifts of the polariton modes, is found to be essential.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S3 7RH, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sarkar
authors.forename: S S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Gavrilov
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sich
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Quilter
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Bradley
authors.forename: N A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Gippius
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Guda
authors.forename: V D
authors.initials: VD
authors.lastname: Kulakovskii
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Skolnick
authors.forename: D N
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: Krizhanovskii