Trapping excitons in a two-dimensional in-plane harmonic potential: experimental evidence for equilibration of indirect excitons

Phys Rev Lett. 2006 Jul 7;97(1):016803. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.97.016803. Epub 2006 Jul 7.

Abstract

We have trapped a gas of long-lifetime, high-mobility excitons in an in-plane harmonic potential. Trapping is an important step toward the goal of a controlled Bose-Einstein condensate of excitons. We show that the repulsive interaction between the excitons plays a dominant role in the behavior of the excitons, in contrast with the weak interactions in atomic gases. We show that under proper conditions the excitons thermalize in the trap to a well-defined equilibrium spatial distribution.