News and outreach
23rd of March 2024
Public seminar at "Dzień Odkrywców Kampusu Ochota" at University of Warsaw
Helgi Sigurðsson delivered a public seminar at FUW at University of Warsaw on the phenomenon of synchronization between polariton quantum fluids.
Abstract: Synchronization is a ubiquitous phenomenon in nature where many entities interact with each other. It appears in the collective flashing lights of hundreds of fireflies, the singing between tree frogs, audience clapping, and even in the quantum world. In this lecture I will tell you how photons and electrons can behave like oscillating pendulums, and display synchronization even in the microscopic quantum world.
12th of March 2024
2nd of February 2024
Seminar on the 2023 Nobel prize in physics
Helgi Sigurðsson was invited to deliver a seminar at University of Iceland on the 2023 Nobel prize in physics, awarded to Pierre Agostini, Ferenc Krausz and Anne L’Huillier "for experimental methods that generate attosecond pulses of light for the study of electron dynamics in matter". A copy of the presentation can be found here.
4th of January 2024
We have just published new exciting work titled "Reconfigurable quantum fluid molecules of bound states in the continuum" in Nature Physics. The work, spearpointed by Antonio Gianfrate and led by Danielle Sanvitto at CNR Nanotec in Lecce, Italy, demonstrated that new a new form of polariton quantum fluids based on bound states in the continuum in semiconductor photonic gratings can hybridize evanescently to form macroscopic complexes such as chains and artificial molecules. The findings were supported by a new Dirac-polariton theory developed between Helgi Sigurðsson (University of Warsaw and University Iceland), Hai Chau Nguyen (University of Siegen, Germany), and Hai Son Nguyen (Univ Lyon, France).
The advantage of the platform is that the artificial quantum complexes can be all-optically programmed yet they retain very high lifetimes because of their protection from the continuum. This could lead to a new venture into optically programmable large-scale quantum fluids defined by unprecedented coherence scales and stability for structured nonlinear lasing and polartion-based simulation of complex systems.
Accessible e-version of the article
Research Briefing
Phys.Org news article
Faculty of Physics - University of Warsaw
6th of December 2023
Third POLONEZ BIS Kick-off meeting took place in Kraków (30.11 - 1.12) where I had the pleasure of meeting other Polonez-Bis fellows from all sorts of science.
The focus of the meeting was on career development, public outreach, and data management. It is more important than ever that we share scientific findings and knowledge to the world in a responsible open-access fashion so that other might benefit from the work.
Huge thanks to the organisers for making this wonderful event possible in the beautiful city of Kraków with lots of snow and Christmas decorations!
11th of October 2023
A collaborative effort with University of Southampton on a project titled Next-nearest-neighbor coupling with spinor polariton condensates has just been published in Physical Review B!
Abstract:
We report on experimental observation of next-nearest-neighbor coupling between ballistically expanding spinor exciton-polariton condensates in a planar semiconductor microcavity. All-optical control over the coupling strength between neighboring condensates is demonstrated through distance-periodic pseudospin screening of their ballistic particle outflow due to the inherent splitting of the planar cavity transverse-electric and transverse-magnetic modes. By screening the nearest-neighbor coupling we overcome the conventional spatial coupling hierarchy between condensates. This offers a promising route toward creating unconventional nonplanar many-body Hamiltonians using networks of ballistically expanding spinor exciton-polariton condensates.
5th of October 2023
A very successful workshop on Polaritons in Emerging Materials at PCS IBS in Daejeon in South Korea where I got the chance to present some past results on rotating polariton condensates and current research goals within the project.
Very nice to see again so many familiar faces from the community! A huge thanks to the organisers, Yong-Hoon Cho (KAIST, Korea); Timothy Liew (NTU, Singapore); and Ivan Savenko (GTIIT, China).
22nd of August 2023
We have just opened 3 positions for Master's students (2 in theory and 1 in experiment) to come work with us and help realize the research goals of our project!
Please follow the links to the NCN website for more information.
1st of August 2023
Our work titled Magneto-optical induced supermode switching in quantum fluids of light has just been published in Communication Physics! A fantastic effort from the Exciton-Polariton team at FUW to bring this nice study to the public. Cover image credits go to Mateusz Król.
23rd of June 2023
I had the pleasure of attending the 51st International School & Conference on the Physics of Semiconductors, "Jaszowiec", conference held in Szczyrk, Poland, 17-23 June 2023. There I presented my findings on interacting ballistics polariton condensates, titled "Networks of Liquid Light". Extremely wonderful area to visit and a great company to discuss condensed matter and solid state physics.
