Abstract
The directional dynamics of the resonant Rayleigh scattering from a semiconductor microcavity is investigated. When optically exciting the lower polariton branch, the strong dispersion results in a directional emission on a ring. The coherent emission ring shows a reduction of its angular width for increasing time after excitation, giving direct evidence for the time-energy uncertainty in the dynamics of the scattering by disorder. The ring width converges with time to a finite value, a direct measure of an intrinsic momentum broadening of the polariton states localized by multiple disorder scattering.
- Received 24 September 2001
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.88.047401
©2002 American Physical Society