Optically erasing disorder in semiconductor microcavities with dynamic nuclear polarization

Abstract

The mean squared value of the photonic disorder is found to be reduced by a factor of 100 in a typical GaAs based microcavity, when exposed to a circularly polarized continuous wave optical pump without any special spatial patterning. Resonant excitation of the cavity mode excites a spatially non-uniform distribution of spin-polarized electrons, which depends on the photonic disorder profile. Electrons transfer spin to nuclei via the hyperfine contact interaction, inducing a long-living Overhauser magnetic field able to modify the potential of exciton-polaritons.