BOTTLENECK EFFECTS IN THE RELAXATION AND PHOTOLUMINESCENCE OF MICROCAVITY POLARITONS

A theoretical model for the investigation of the dynamics of microcavi ty polaritons in the strong-coupling regime is proposed. The resulting photoluminescence dynamics at small angles is studied as a function o f the angle of observation, the cavity detuning, the lattice, and the free-carrier temperature. For small detunings, the strong dispersion o f the microcavity polaritons at small angles results in a bottleneck r elaxation dynamics, similar to the bulk one. However, important differ ences, related to the reduced dimensionality of the system, are found. In particular, a larger emission from the upper polariton with respec t to the lower polariton is found for any temperature. Moreover, a two -lobe angular emission from the lower branch is also expected. In the case of large pump excess energies, when hot carriers are injected int o the system, longitudinal-optical-phonon emission has also been consi dered as a possible polariton formation mechanism, and shown to reduce only partially the effects summarized above.