Kibble-Zurek Mechanism in Topologically Nontrivial Zigzag Chains of Polariton Micropillars

We consider a zigzag chain of coupled micropillar cavities, taking into account the polarization of polariton states. We show that the TE-TM splitting of photonic cavity modes yields topologically protected polariton edge states. During the strongly nonadiabatic process of polariton condensation, th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review letters 2016-01, Vol.116 (4), p.046402-046402, Article 046402
Main Authors: Solnyshkov, D D, Nalitov, A V, Malpuech, G
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Density
Domain walls
Equivalence
Holes
Polaritons
Polarization
Quenching
Solitons
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Summary:We consider a zigzag chain of coupled micropillar cavities, taking into account the polarization of polariton states. We show that the TE-TM splitting of photonic cavity modes yields topologically protected polariton edge states. During the strongly nonadiabatic process of polariton condensation, the Kibble-Zurek mechanism leads to a random choice of polarization, equivalent to the dimerization of polymer chains. We show that dark-bright solitons appear as domain walls between polarization domains, analogous to the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger solitons in polymers. The soliton density scales as a power law with respect to the quenching parameter.
ISSN:0031-9007
1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/physrevlett.116.046402