Engineering photon statistics in a spinor polariton condensate

Abstract

We implement full polarization tomography on the photon correlations in a spinor exciton-polariton condensate. Our measurements reveal condensate pseudospin mean-field dynamics spanning from stochastic switching between linear polarization components, limit cycles, and stable fixed points, and their intrinsic relation to the condensate photon statistics. We optically harness the cavity birefringence, polariton interactions, and the optical orientation of the photoexcited exciton background to engineer photon statistics with precise control. Our results demonstrate a smooth transition from a highly coherent to a super-thermal state of the condensate polarization components.