Linewidth of a polariton laser: Theoretical analysis of self-interaction effects

Abstract

Polaritons in semiconductor microcavities can experience a Bose-Einstein condensation experimentally detectable in the spectrum of the emitted light. Scattering with noncondensed particles as well as self-interaction in the condensate provoke phase-diffusion limiting the coherence of the polariton condensate. We present a theoretical analysis of self-interaction effects on the lineshape of the emission from a polariton laser. Our calculations, for CdTe microcavities, show that there is an optimum pump at which the linewidth of the emitted light is reduced down to 1 $\mu$ eV.