Ultrafast polariton population build-up mediated by molecular phonons in organic microcavities

A key prerequisite for low-threshold polariton lasing in organic or inorganic microcavity systems the efficient population of the lower polariton ground state. Here, we report the observation of a resonant phonon-mediated relaxation process which gives rise to nonthermal polariton population with sub 100 fs build-up times. This mechanism is manifested by discrete maxima of the angular-resolved photoluminescence intensity, with corresponding shortening of the photoluminescence rise time at respective phonon resonances. The realization of enhanced relaxation rates in disordered J-aggregate systems is important for developing room temperature organic laser sources with less fabrication complexity than their crystalline counterparts. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics [doi:10.1063/1.3645633]