LIGHT-EMISSION FROM QUANTUM-WELL EXCITONS IN SEMICONDUCTOR MICROCAVITIES

A quantum-mechanical model for quantum well polaritons in semiconducto r microcavities is presented. The real and imaginary parts of the pola riton dispersion are obtained. They represent, respectively, the posit ion and the linewidth of the luminescence peaks observed in typical ex periments. The model includes the features of the distributed Bragg re flectors which constitute the cavity mirrors, and has the advantage of describing the weak-coupling as well as the strong-coupling regimes c haracteristic of this kind of systems. Furthermore, in the limit where no cavity is present, the well-known result for quantum well polarito ns is recovered.