POLARIZATION-DEPENDENT PHENOMENA IN THE REFLECTIVITY SPECTRA OF SEMICONDUCTOR QUANTUM MICROCAVITIES

Angular-dependent reflectivity techniques are employed to probe the ex citon-polariton states of a semiconductor quantum microcavity. The spe ctra exhibit marked polarization dependence, with the energies, line w idths, and intensities all differing between transverse-electric and t ransverse-magnetic polarizations, consistent with the predictions of t ransfer-matrix simulations. In addition, anomalous narrowing of the sp ectra on resonance, broadening of the cavity mode by interaction with exciton continuum states and interaction of the cavity mode with quant um-well excited-state transitions are reported. [S0163-1829(97)52040-6 ].