Tuneable polaritonics at room temperature with strongly coupled Tamm plasmon polaritons in metal/air-gap microcavities

Abstract

We report strong coupling between Tamm plasmons and excitons in III–V quantum wells at room temperature in ultracompact sample designs. A high refractive index contrast air-gap mirror together with optical Tamm states at a metal/semiconductor interface tightly confines the intracavity field leading to substantial local field enhancements. Angular-resolved reflectivity spectra give clear evidence for anticrossing in the dispersion relation. Room temperature Rabi splittings of 10 meV are found in excellent agreement with simulations. Electrical control of the polariton modes is realized without need for doped mirror layers. Such air-gap microcavities open innovative possibilites for electrically tunable microcavities and polaritonic microelectromechanics.