Relaxation explosion of a quantum degenerate exciton gas in Cu 2O

Abstract

We present our recent experimental studies on anomalous luminescence and its connection to Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) transition of dark excitons in a bulk semiconductor. Our sensitive and quantitative detection of this nonluminous quasi-particle using hydrogen-like internal transitions allows obtaining continuous spectra of dark excitons using a quantum cascade laser. According to quantitative measurements on the two-body inelastic collision cross section of excitons, the system needs to be cooled to sub-Kelvin temperatures. We discuss in detail our recent observation of an explosive phenomenon when the BEC criterion is satisfied (Yoshioka et al 2011 Nature Commun. 2 328) for trapped excitons using a helium-3 refrigerator, and outline a plausible scenario when the BEC transition occurs in an inelastic environment. We also discuss how to increase the condensate fraction in order to study the unique ground state of many-body electric excitations in solids. © IOP Publishing Ltd and Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft.