Abstract

Optical properties of semiconductor microcavities in the nonperturbative regime are characterized by cavity polaritons. How laser emissions occur in this regime, however, has remained an open question. It is well known that for a homogeneously broadened excitonic system, population inversion for the excitonic transition cannot be achieved without completely bleaching the excitonic resonance. Laser emissions at exciton densities where cavity polaritons still persist have to involve additional processes such as bosonic condensation, phonon-assisted transitions, or exciton localization.

© 1998 Optical Society of America