Nonequilibrium polariton condensate in a magnetic field

Abstract

We investigate exciton-polariton condensation in a magnetic field in a single high-quality semiconductor micropillar cavity. We observe successive polariton condensation of each spin component for two distinct threshold powers. Pronounced and nonmonotonous variations of both the Zeeman splitting and the circular polarization of the emission are measured across these two condensation thresholds. This unexpected behavior deeply deviates from the so-called spin-Meissner effect predicted for a fully thermalized system. Our measurements can be understood in a kinetic approach taking into account spin-anisotropic interactions within the entire system: the polariton condensate and the cloud of uncondensed excitons.