Abstract

In this talk, I will discuss different ways to exploit the hybridization between light and matter in solid-state devices to modify the properties of the host material. I will begin by demonstrating how coupling with the photonic field of a microcavity can substantially change the electronic wavefunctions of Wannier excitons in undoped semiconductor quantum wells and create bound excitons in doped ones. I will also show some related results obtained under applied magnetic field. I will then discuss how hybridization of longitudinal and transverse degrees of freedom in polar dielectrics, due to crystalline structure or nano-structuring, can alter the mid-infrared optical response of semiconductor heterostructures. Finally, I will present some recent theoretical results showing how such longitudinal- transverse hybridization can lead to far-field resonant mid-infrared photon emission from electric currents.