Femtosecond switching of strong light-matter interactions in microcavities with two-dimensional semiconductors

Femtosecond switching of strong light-matter interactions in microcavities with two-dimensional semiconductors | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Femtosecond switching of strong light-matter interactions in microcavities with two-dimensional semiconductors Giulio Cerullo, Armando Genco, Charlambos Louca, Cristina Cruciano, and 14 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4521415/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 14 Jul, 2025 Read the published version in Nature Communications → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Ultrafast all-optical logic devices based on nonlinear light-matter interactions hold the promise to overcome the speed limitations of conventional electronic devices. Strong coupling of excitons and photons inside an optical resonator enhances such interactions and generates new polariton states which give access to unique nonlinear phenomena, such as Bose-Einstein condensation, used for all-optical ultrafast polariton transistors. However, to reach the threshold for condensation high quality factors and high pulse energies are required. Here we demonstrate all-optical switching exploiting the ultrafast transition from the strong to the weak coupling regime in low-Q microcavities embedding bilayers of transition metal dichalcogenides with high optical nonlinearities and fast exciton relaxation times. We observe a collapse of polariton gaps as large as 55 meV and their revival, lowering the threshold for optical switching below 4 pJ per pulse, while retaining ultrahigh switching frequencies. As an additional degree of freedom, the switching can be triggered pumping either the intra- or the interlayer excitons of the bilayers at different wavelengths, speeding up the polariton dynamics, owing to unique interspecies excitonic interactions. Our approach will enable the development of compact ultrafast all-optical logical circuits and neural networks, showcasing a new platform for polaritonic information processing based on manipulating the light-matter coupling. Physical sciences/Optics and photonics/Optical physics/Ultrafast photonics Physical sciences/Physics/Condensed-matter physics/Semiconductors/Two-dimensional materials Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files GencoetalSupplementaryInfo.pdf Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 14 Jul, 2025 Read the published version in Nature Communications → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-4521415","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":447653943,"identity":"87df3c05-eade-471b-88fc-328d1817cc33","order_by":0,"name":"Giulio 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