Starting in 5 minutes:
TODAY!
CENTER FOR EXCITONICS Presents:
Superfluids of Light
TUESDAY - May 9, 2017 at 4:30pm/36-438 RLE Haus Rm
David Snoke
University of Pittsburgh, Department of Chemistry
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Polaritons in microcavities can be viewed as dressed photons- light interacts with
electronic states in a solid in such a way that the photons have an effective mass and
repulsive interactions. Because they are bosons, they can undergo Bose-Einstein
condensation at low temperature and become superfluid. It is now routine to make polariton
condensates, including in thermal equilibrium, with demonstrations of such canonical
effects as quantized vortices, Josephson oscillations, and phase locking of two
condensates. We can also now easily see transport of polariton condensates over long
distances of hundreds of microns, allowing the possibility of polaritonic circuits. I will
present recent work on flow of polariton condensates in one-dimensional channels and
circular rings, and discuss recent work on creating polariton condensates at room
temperature.
David Snoke received his PhD in physics from the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign. He has worked for The Aerospace Corporation and was a visiting scientist
and Fellow at the Max Planck Institute. In 2006, he was elected a Fellow of the American
Physical Socieity with the citation, "For his pioneering work on the experimental and
theoretical understanding of dynamical optical processes in semiconductor systems."
His research has focused on basic processes and phase transitions of electrons, holes,
including non equilibrium dynamics of electron plasma and excitons, the Mott transition
from exciton gas to electron-hole plasma and Bose-Einstein condensation of excitons and
polaritons. His research group at the University of Pittsburgh uses stress to trap
excitons in confined regions, similar to the way atoms are confined in traps for
Bose-Einstein condensation experiments.
The Center For Excitonics Is An Energy Frontier Research Center Funded By The U.S.
Department Of Energy,
Office Of Science And Office Of Basic Energy Sciences
Light refreshments will be served at 4:15 pm.