arXiv subjects

Milena De Giorgi

Publications and source records attributed to Milena De Giorgi.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Dynamical stabilisation of a quantum fluid using a single topological defect

The size and shape of a quantum fluid in equilibrium is strongly influenced by the inter-particle interactions. In the attractive interaction regime, atomic quantum fluids ultimately collapse in a violent process that expels most of the particles from the macroscopically occupied state. Here, we use a quantum fluid of light in propagating geometry as an analogue to a two-dimensional Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) with large attractive interactions to show that non-trivial topology significantly alters the dynamical behaviour of the collapse, enhancing the BEC stability and delaying the collapse time by an order of magnitude. We measure direct experimental signatures of topology affecting quantum hydrodynamics, unveiling the inherent competition between attractive nonlinearities, that lead to the collapse, and the preservation of topological charge from a multi-charged vortex. We fully characterise the collapse process in coordinate space and the eventual `solitonification' of the system and connect it to the mode structure of the excitation spectrum.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2026

Geometric control of hyperbolic exciton-polariton condensate dimers

Coupled many-body quantum systems exhibit rich emergent physics with diverse stationary and dynamical behaviors. By engineering platforms with tunable and distinct coupling mechanisms, new insights emerge into the collective behavior of coupled many body systems. Particles can be exchanged via evanescent or ballistic coupling: the former, based on proximity, yields large spectral splitting, while the latter requires strict phase-matching, analogous to phase-coupled harmonic oscillators, and has a smaller impact on the energy landscape. We demonstrate an all-optically tunable quantum fluid dimer based on exciton-polariton condensates in a photonic crystal waveguide with hyperbolic (saddle-like) dispersion. Varying the dimer's angle relative to the grating tunes the coupling from evanescent to ballistic. We directly observe spectral features and mass flow shaped by the saddle dispersion. This work highlights photonic crystals as powerful platforms to explore condensed matter phenomena lying at the interface between delay-coupled nonlinear oscillators and tight binding physics.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2026

Pulse, polarization and topology shaping of polariton fuids

Here we present different approaches to ultrafast pulse and polarization shaping, based on a ``quantum fluid'' platform of polaritons. Indeed we exploit the normal modes of two dimensional polariton fluids made of strong coupled quantum well excitons and microcavity photons, by rooting different polarization and topological states into their sub-picosecond Rabi oscillations. Coherent control of two resonant excitation pulses allows us to prepare the desired state of the polariton, taking benefit from its four-component features given by the combination of the two normal modes with the two degrees of polarization. An ultrafast imaging based on the digital off-axis holography technique is implemented to study the polariton complex wavefunction with time and space resolution. We show in order coherent control of the polariton state on the Bloch sphere, an ultrafast polarization sweeping of the Poincaré sphere, and the dynamical twist of full Poincaré states such as the skyrmion on the sphere itself. Finally, we realize a new kind of ultrafast swirling vortices by adding the angular momentum degree of freedom to the two-pulse scheme. These oscillating topology states are characterized by one or more inner phase singularities tubes which spirals around the axis of propagation. The mechanism is devised in the splitting of the vortex into the upper and lower polaritons, resulting in an oscillatory exchange of energy and angular momentum and in the emitted time and space structured photonic packets.

cond-mat.other↗

arXiv2026

Dynamical universality in a driven quantum fluid of light

Universal scaling near phase transitions is one of the central ideas of physics, linking the growth of spatial correlations to the slowing down of dynamics. So far, direct experimental access to this critical behavior has remained largely confined to equilibrium many-body systems, and especially to static critical behavior. Here we probe how universality emerges in a driven quantum fluid of light formed by exciton--polaritons in a semiconductor microcavity. By probing the fluctuation-dominated disordered phase below the condensation threshold, we directly measure both the static growth of the correlation length $ξ$ and the dynamical slowing down of the relaxation time $τ$. We find that these quantities obey the universal relation $τ\propto ξ^{z}$ with dynamical exponent $z \approx 2$, revealing diffusive dynamics of a non-conserved order parameter. Our results extend the physics of critical dynamics from equilibrium matter to driven optical systems, bridging quantum condensates and lasers.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2025

Fully Integrated Perovskite Polaritonic Circuits with Tunable Lasing and Nonlinear Amplification

Photonic integrated circuits are emerging as a key technology for compact and energy-efficient optical information processing. Yet, their practical implementation remains limited by the intrinsically weak optical nonlinearities of conventional materials, which demand high power and large footprints to achieve significant nonlinear responses. Exciton-polaritons, hybrid light-matter excitations of semiconducting materials, offer a promising solution by combining strong optical nonlinearities with the high speed and large scalability typical of photonic devices. However, despite their potential, working on-chip polaritonic elements demonstrating room temperature coherent lasing, controllable nonlinear propagation, or amplification have remained elusive. Here we demonstrate a fully integrated perovskite polaritonic circuit that overcomes these limitations. Using a single-step microfluidic lithographic technique, we realize waveguide circuits with integrated gratings that simultaneously act as couplers and mirrors, forming in-plane Fabry-Pérot cavities. These structures support robust in-plane polariton lasing between gratings, yielding coherent emission along the waveguide. Furthermore, we observe clear signatures of strong nonlinear self-phase modulation and, for the first time, optical amplification of guided polaritons at room temperature. Our simple, scalable platform opens the way to low-power, highly nonlinear optical circuits for integrated photonics and neuromorphic architectures operating at room temperature.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2025

Microfluidic-Assisted Growth of Perovskite Microwires for Room-Temperature All-Optical Switching Based on Total Internal Reflection

The development of efficient integrated photonic circuits is fundamental for ongoing research in information processing and computer science. The greatest challenge in strong light-matter regime facing photonic systems is achieving strong nonlinearities, which are exploitable in strongly coupled systems, leading to the formation of exciton-polaritons. In this context, the use of hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites offers a promising alternative, exhibiting robust interactions at Room Temperature (RT). However, the development of perovskite-based integrated devices requires both the ability to achieve long in-plane propagation, and the development of alternative fabrication approaches tailored to perovskite materials, designed to preserve their optical properties and prevent degradation. Herein, we present the realization of a proof-of-concept all-optical switch using propagating polaritons confined in Total Internal Reflection (TIR), which ensures long in-plane propagation and limited optical losses. We realized an efficient injection/extraction of the TIR-confined waveguide polariton modes by employing gold grating couplers prepatterned on the substrate.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2025

Directional optical parametric amplification in a hyperbolic metamaterial

Optical parametric amplification (OPA) comprises essentially a nonlinear four-wave mixing process in which a "pump" and a "signal" field give rise to an "idler" field under certain phase-matching conditions. Here we use a photonic crystal waveguide strongly-coupled with an excitonic reservoir to generate this process between different guided modes at optical wavelengths. Differently from classical nonlinear optical crystals, where the pump and idler photons travel almost collinearly, our exciton-polaritons are naturally separated in the waveguide due to their opposite group velocities. Due to the high efficiency of the process we can generate the idler field of the parametric process by pumping with a continuous wave laser and choose its direction of propagation in the waveguide by adjusting the angle of incidence of the seed laser. We show the OPA process to be robust against surface defects of the waveguide and can lead to simple-to-fabricate devices compared to microcavities that take advantage of strong signal-idler correlations in a propagating geometry. Our results closely agree with mean-field numerical simulations.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2024

Condensation dynamics in a two-dimensional photonic crystal waveguide

Exciton-polariton condensation occurs at the extrema of the underlying dispersion where the density of states diverges and carriers can naturally accumulate. The existence of multiple such points leads to coupling and competition between the associated modes and dynamical redistribution of the carriers in the dispersion. Here, we directly engineer the above situation via subwavelength periodic patterning of a two-dimensional nanostructure. This leads to multimode condensation into a pair of symmetric condensates that form at high-momenta, accidental-coupling points, and a high-symmetry $Γ$-point with a bound-in-the-continuum (BiC) state. The dynamical behaviour of the system reveals the non-simultaneous appearance of these condensates and the interplay of non-trivial gain and relaxation mechanisms. We fully characterise the quasi-static and dynamical regime of this artificial crystal and the properties of the different condensates. This understanding is necessary when band-structure engineering techniques are used to achieve precise control of condensate formation with given energy and momentum.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2024

Enhanced polariton interactions in suspended WS2 monolayer microcavity

Transition-metal dichalcogenides monolayers exhibit strong exciton resonances that enable intense light-matter interactions at room temperature (RT). However, the sensitivity of these materials to the surrounding environment and their intense interactions with the sustaining substrate result in the enhancement of excitonic losses through scattering, dissociation and defects formation, hindering their full potential for the excitation of optical nonlinearities in exciton-polariton platforms. From this point of view, the use of suspended monolayers holds the potential to completely eliminate substrate-induced losses, offering unique advantages for the investigation and exploitation of intrinsic electronic, mechanical, and optical properties of 2D materials based polaritonic systems, without any influence of proximity effects of all sort. In this work, we report a novel fabrication approach enabling the realization of a planar λ/2 microcavity filled with a suspended WS2 monolayer in its centre. In such a system, we experimentally demonstrate a 2-fold enhancement of the strong coupling at RT, due to reduced overall losses as compared to similar systems based on dielectric-filled microcavities. Moreover, as a result of minimized losses, spin-dependent polaritonic interactions in our platform are significantly amplified, leading to achievement of a record exciton interaction constant approaching the theoretically predicted value at RT, without making use of theoretical hypothesis on the effective polariton densities. This approach holds promises for pushing 2D materials-based polaritonic systems to their intrinsic limits, paving the way for the realization of novel polaritonic devices with superior performance.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2024

Exciton-polariton ring Josephson junction

Macroscopic coherence in quantum fluids allows the observation of interference effects in their wavefunctions, and enables applications such as superconducting quantum interference devices based on Josephson tunneling. The Josephson effect manifests in both fermionic and bosonic systems, and has been well studied in superfluid helium and atomic Bose-Einstein condensates. In exciton-polariton condensates - that offer a path to integrated semiconductor platforms - creating weak links in ring geometries has so far remained challenging. In this work, we realize a Josephson junction in a polariton ring condensate. Using optical control of the barrier, we induce net circulation around the ring and demonstrate both superfluid-hydrodynamic and the Josephson regime characterized by a sinusoidal tunneling current. Our theory in terms of the free-energy landscapes explains the appearance of these regimes using experimental values. These results show that weak links in ring condensates can be explored in optical integrated circuits and hold potential for room-temperature applications.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2024

Reconfigurable quantum fluid molecules of bound states in the continuum

Topological bound states in the continuum are confined wave-mechanical objects that offer advantageous ways to enhance light-matter interactions in compact photonic devices. In particular, their large quality factor in the strong-coupling regime has recently enabled the demonstration of Bose-Einstein condensation of bound-state-in-the-continuum polaritons. Here, we show that condensation into a negative-mass bound state in the continuum exhibits interaction-induced state confinement, opening opportunities for optically reprogrammable molecular arrays of quantum fluids of light. We exploit this optical trapping mechanism to demonstrate that such molecular complexes show hybridization with macroscopic modes with unusual topological charge multiplicity. Additionally, we demonstrate the scalability of our technique by constructing extended mono- and diatomic chains of bound-state-in-the-continuum polariton fluids that display non-Hermitian band formation and the opening of a minigap. Our findings offer insights into large-scale, reprogrammable, driven, dissipative many-body systems in the strong-coupling regime.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2024

Emerging supersolidity from a polariton condensate in a photonic crystal waveguide

A supersolid is a counter-intuitive phase of matter where its constituent particles are arranged into a crystalline structure, yet they are free to flow without friction. This requires the particles to share a global macroscopic phase while being able to reduce their total energy by spontaneous, spatial self-organisation. This exotic state of matter has been achieved in different systems using Bose-Einstein condensates coupled to cavities, possessing spin-orbit coupling, or dipolar interactions. Here we provide experimental evidence of a new implementation of the supersolid phase in a novel non-equilibrium context based on exciton-polaritons condensed in a topologically non-trivial, bound-in-the-continuum state with exceptionally low losses. We measure the density modulation of the polaritonic state indicating the breaking of translational symmetry with a remarkable precision of a few parts in a thousand. Direct access to the phase of the wavefunction allows us to additionally measure the local coherence of the superfluid component. We demonstrate the potential of our synthetic photonic material to host phonon dynamics and a multimode excitation spectrum.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2023

Room temperature polariton condensation from Whispering gallery modes in CsPbBr3 microplatelets

Room temperature (RT) polariton condensate holds exceptional promise for revolutionizing various fields of science and technology, encompassing optoelectronics devices to quantum information processing. Using perovskite materials like all-inorganic CsPbBr3 single crystal provides additional advantages, such as ease of synthesis, cost-effectiveness, and compatibility with existing semiconductor technologies. In this work, we show the formation of whispering gallery modes (WGM) in CsPbBr3 single crystals with controlled geometry, synthesized using a lowcost and efficient capillary bridge method. Through the implementation of microplatelets geometry, we achieve enhanced optical properties and performance thanks to the presence of sharp edges and a uniform surface, effectively avoiding non-radiative scattering losses caused by defects. This allows us not only to observe strong light matter coupling and formation of whispering gallery polaritons, but also to demonstrate the onset of polariton condensation at RT. This investigation not only contributes to the advancement of our knowledge concerning the exceptional optical properties of perovskite-based polariton systems, but also unveils prospects for the exploration of WGM polariton condensation within the framework of a 3D perovskite-based platform, working at RT. The unique characteristics of polariton condensate, including low excitation thresholds and ultrafast dynamics, open up unique opportunities for advancements in photonics and optoelectronics devices.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2023

Coupled quantum vortex kinematics and Berry curvature in real space

The Berry curvature provides a powerful tool to unify several branches of science through their geometrical aspect: topology, energy bands, spin and vector fields. While quantum defects -- phase vortices and skyrmions -- have been in the spotlight, as rotational entities in condensates, superfluids and optics, their dynamics in multi-component fields remain little explored. Here we use two-component microcavity polaritons to imprint a dynamical pseudospin texture in the form of a double full Bloch beam, a conformal continuous vortex beyond unitary skyrmions. The Berry curvature plays a key role to link various quantum spaces available to describe such textures. It explains for instance the ultrafast spiraling in real space of two singular vortex cores, providing in particular a simple expression -- also involving the complex Rabi frequency -- for their intricate velocity. Such Berry connections open new perspectives for understanding and controlling highly-structured quantum objects, including strongly asymmetric cases or even higher multi-component fields.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2023

Engineering Dion-Jacobson Perovskites in Polariton Waveguides

Hybrid two-dimensional perovskites hold considerable promise as semiconductors for a wide range of optoelectronic applications. Many efforts are addressed to exploit the potential of these materials by tailoring their characteristics. In this work, the optical properties and electronic band structure in three new Dion-Jacobson (DJ) perovskites (PVKs) are engineered by modulating their structural distortion. Two different interlayer cations: 1-6, Hexamethylendiammonium, HE, and 3-(Dimethylamino)-1-propylammonium, DMPA, have been selected to investigate the role of the cation length and the ammonium binding group on the crystalline structure. This study provides new insights into the understanding of the structure-property relationship in DJ perovskites and demonstrates that exciton characteristics can be easily modulated with the judicious design of the organic cations. DJ PVKs developed in this work were also grown as size-controlled single crystal microwires through a microfluidic-assisted synthesis technique and integrated in a nanophotonic device. The DJ PVK microwire acts as a waveguide exhibiting strong light-matter coupling between the crystal optical modes and DJ PVK exciton. Through the investigation of these polariton waveguides, the nature of the double peak emission, which is often observed in these materials and whose nature is largely debated in the literature, is demonstrated originating from the hybrid polariton state.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2023

Conformal-invariance of 2D quantum turbulence in an exciton-polariton fluid of light

The similarities of quantum turbulence with classical hydrodynamics allow quantum fluids to provide essential models of their classical analogue, paving the way for fundamental advances in physics and technology. Recently, experiments on 2D quantum turbulence observed the clustering of same-sign vortices in strong analogy with the inverse energy cascade of classical fluids. However, self-similarity of the turbulent flow, a fundamental concept in the study of classical turbulence, has so far remained largely unexplored in quantum systems. Here, thanks to the unique features of exciton-polaritons, we measure the scale invariance of velocity circulations and show that the cascade process follows the universal scaling of critical phenomena in 2D. We demonstrate this behaviour from the statistical analysis of the experimentally measured incompressible velocity field and the microscopic imaging of the quantum fluid. These results can find wide application in both quantum and classical 2D turbulence.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2021

Single-step transmission matrix retrieval for fast imaging through multi-mode fibers

Recovering the transmission matrix of a disordered medium is a challenging problem in disordered photonics. Usually, its reconstruction relies on a complex inversion that aims at connecting a fully-controlled input to the deterministic interference of the light field scrambled by the device. At the moment, iterative phase-retrieval protocols provide the fastest reconstructing frameworks, converging in a few tens of iterations. Exploiting the knowledge of speckle correlations, we construct a new phase retrieval algorithm that reduces the computational cost to a single iteration. Besides being faster, our method is effective also using less measurements than state-of-the-art protocols. Thanks to reducing computation time by one order of magnitude, our result can be groundbreaking for real-time optical operations in medical imaging.

physics.comp-ph↗

arXiv2021

Shaping the topology of light with a moving Rabi-oscillating vortex

Quantum vortices are the analogue of classical vortices in optics, Bose-Einstein condensates, superfluids and superconductors, where they provide the elementary mode of rotation and orbital angular momentum. While they mediate important pair interactions and phase transitions in nonlinear fluids, their linear dynamics is useful for the shaping of complex light, as well as for topological entities in multi-component systems, such as full Bloch beams. Here, setting a quantum vortex into directional motion in an open-dissipative fluid of microcavity polaritons, we observe the self-splitting of the packet, leading to the trembling movement of its center of mass, whereas the vortex core undergoes ultrafast spiraling along diverging and converging circles, in a sub-picosecond precessing fashion. This singular dynamics is accompanied by vortex-antivortex pairs creation and annihilation, and a periodically changing topological charge. The spiraling and branching mechanics represent a direct manifestation of the underlying Bloch pseudospin space, whose mapping is shown to be rotating and splitting itself. Its reshaping is due to three simultaneous drives along the distinct directions of momentum and complex frequency, by means of the differential group velocities, Rabi frequency and dissipation rates, which are natural assets in coupled fields such as polaritons. This state, displaying linear momentum dressed with oscillating angular momentum, confirms the richness of multi-component and open quantum fluids and their innate potentiality to implement sophisticated and dynamical topological textures of light.

physics.optics↗