Description: Ultrafast pump-probe and photoluminescence spectroscopy of semiconductor microcavity polariton condensates.
Jacqueline Bloch leads a world-leading group on semiconductor exciton-polariton physics at C2N/Paris-Saclay. Research: (1) polariton condensation and quantum fluids of light β superfluidity, vortices, analogue gravity; (2) topological insulator physics with polaritons; (3) quantum simulation with polariton lattices; (4) fundamental quantum optics of polariton systems. IQUPS co-organiser; C2N head. Key for light-physics sensing relevant to quantum fluids and topological photonics.
Bramati leads the Quantum Fluids of Light team at LKB, studying exciton-polariton superfluids in semiconductor microcavities: quantized vortices, dark solitons, half-solitons behaving as magnetic monopoles, and analogue-gravity phenomena in polariton and photon fluids. The group also develops single-photon sources based on nanoemitters and coordinates the international Q-GAP program with Singapore's NRF on quantum fluids and photonics.
Sylvain Gigan's PICO (Photonics, Information, and Complexity) group focuses on imaging through and with complex and scattering media. Research: (1) wavefront shaping through scattering media β adaptive optics and transmission matrix approaches for deep-tissue fluorescence imaging; (2) multimode quantum optics through complex media β pushing quantum light through scattering and multi-mode fibres; (3) analogue computing with random optical scattering media. Key for biosensing: deep tissue imaging at high spatial resolution and quantum-enhanced light manipulation.
Quentin Glorieux's group explores quantum fluids of light and polariton physics. Research: (1) exciton-polariton condensates in semiconductor microcavities β superfluidity, vortex dynamics, analogue gravity; (2) quantum fluids of light in atomic media β photon-photon interactions via electromagnetically induced transparency; (3) analogue gravity with polariton and photon fluids β studying acoustic black hole analogs with quantum light. IUF member; ERC grants.
Hutchison works on molecular polaritonics: what happens to chemistry when molecular electronic or vibrational transitions are strongly coupled to a confined optical mode in a Fabry-Perot or plasmonic nanocavity. He was among the first to show that vibrational strong coupling modifies ground-state chemical reactivity, and the group continues to probe polariton-modified energy transfer, photochemistry and transport, alongside single-molecule spectroscopy and 2D-material photonics. Positioned against the established body of NV-ensemble quantum sensing work β DEER, nanoscale NMR and T1 relaxometry protocols operating at pT/sqrt(Hz) field sensitivity β the connection to quantum sensing is the cavity: the same Purcell and collective-coupling physics that concentrates optical density of states around a molecule is what is used to improve photon collection and readout fidelity in NV ensembles operating at pT/sqrt(Hz). This is fundamental light-matter physics with a clear nonclassical-state angle.
Lakhwani runs the Molecular Photophysics Group and is a chief investigator in ARC Exciton Science. The group works on strong light-matter coupling in organic semiconductors: forming exciton-polaritons in microcavities, driving them toward polariton lasing and condensation with electrically injected devices, and engineering host-guest energy funnelling to lower thresholds. A second thread is chiroptical spectroscopy β circular dichroism and circularly polarised luminescence of chiral organic films β which is a polarisation-resolved measurement of a very small differential signal. Positioned against the established body of NV-ensemble quantum sensing work β DEER, nanoscale NMR and T1 relaxometry protocols operating at pT/sqrt(Hz) field sensitivity β polaritonic quantum matter is a distinct route to non-classical states of light at room temperature, in contrast to the cryogenic or spin-based platforms that dominate pT/sqrt(Hz)-class sensing; the differential chiroptical measurements the group performs are, methodologically, small-signal detection problems of exactly the same type.
Oulton's group develops nanophotonic devices, including quantum emitters and exciton-polariton systems in 2D semiconductors and solid-state quantum light sources, aiming at scalable quantum photonic technologies.