Semiclassical theory of excitonic polaritons in a planar semiconductor microcavity

We present a comprehensive theoretical description of quantum well exciton- polaritons imbedded in a planar semiconductor microcavity. The exact nonlac al dielectric response of the quantum well exciton is treated in detail. Th e 4-spinor structure of the hole subband in the quantum well is considered, including the pronounced band mixing effect. The scheme is self-contained and can be used to treat different semiclassical aspects of the microcavity properties. As an example, rye analyze the "selection" rules for the excit on-cavity mode coupling for different excitons.