Abstract

The coherent control of exciton populations in quantum-wells (QW) has been reported in recent years[1], In this work, we demonstrate the coherent control of the exciton-photon normal modes in a strongly coupled QW microcavity using a two-color scheme. Phase-controlled pump pulses tuned to one normal mode excite and deexcite QW excitons, thus they can control the nonlinear response of a probe pulse tuned to the other since each normal mode carries an equal admixture of exciton and cavity photon. Consequently, our results represent the coherent control not only of a material dipolar response, but also of a coupled light-matter mode. Practically, the two-color scheme may be useful for alloptical switch since the two-color scheme minimizes crosstalk between control and signal. Furthermore, it should enable the switch to be cascadable. A noteworthy comment on the microcavity switch is that the field enhancement in cavity induces a substantially stronger nonlinearity with respect to the external field in comparison with the cavity-free QW[2].

© 1998 Optical Society of America