Thesis of Bastian Real Elgueda

Defense of thesis Bastian Real Elgueda Abstract : The simulation of lattice Hamiltonians in photonic platforms has been enlightening in the understanding of novel transport and localization properties in the context of solid-state physics. In particular, exciton-polaritons provide a versatile system to investigate these properties in lattices with intriguing band structures in the presence of gain and loss, and particle interactions. Polaritons are hybrid light-matter quasiparticles arising from the strong coupling between photons and excitons in semiconductor microcavities, whose properties can be directly accessed in photoluminescence experiments. In this thesis, we firstly study the features of strained honeycomb lattices made of coupled polariton resonators having high photonic content. In a critically strained lattice, we evidence both a semi-Dirac transport and an anisotropic localization of photons. Secondly, we show that a judicious driving in lattices of lossy resonators allows the appearance of novel localized modes. Using polariton lattices driven resonantly with several optical beams, we demonstrate the localization of light in at-will geometries down to a single site. Finally, we take advantage of the polarization-dependent polariton interaction to demonstrate an optical Zeeman-like effect in a single micropillar. In combination with optical spin-orbit coupling inherent to semiconductor microstructures, the interaction-induced Zeeman effect results in emission of vortex beams with a well-defined chirality. This thesis brings to light the power of polariton platforms to study lattice Hamiltonians with unprecedented properties and it also provides a first step towards the fully-optical generation of topological phases in lattices. Keywords : Photonic lattices,Exciton polaritons,Transport and localization,Honeycomb lattice,Drive and dissipation,Light-induced magnetic effects