Quantum inelastic collisions between paraexcitons in Cu2O

K. Yoshioka (1) , Takuro Ideguchi (1) , André Mysyrowicz (2) , Makoto Kuwata-Gonokami (1)

1 Department of Applied Physics
2 LOA - Laboratoire d'optique appliquée

A density-dependent loss of optically inactive paraexcitons is measured as a function of temperature over a wide range of densities in Cu2O. At low temperatures, the two-body inelastic collision rate stays at a constant and the extracted collision cross-section diverges. A loss channel cannot be explained classically but is expected in a quantum-mechanical regime. We discuss the repercussion of this loss on the feasibility of achieving Bose-Einstein condensation of paraexcitons in Cu2O.

Keywords: excitons

Domains: Optics [physics.optics]

K. Yoshioka, Takuro Ideguchi, André Mysyrowicz, Makoto Kuwata-Gonokami. Quantum inelastic collisions between paraexcitons in Cu2O. Physical Review A : Atomic, molecular, and optical physics [1990-2015], 2010, 82 (4), pp.041201(R). ⟨10.1103/PhysRevB.82.041201⟩. ⟨hal-00506491⟩