Bragg diffraction of microcavity polaritons by a surface acoustic wave

Bragg scattering of polaritons by a coherent acoustic wave is mediated and strongly enhanced by the exciton states resonant with the acoustic and optic fields in the intraband and interband transitions, respectively. In this case, in contrast with conventional acousto-optics, the resonantly enhanced Bragg spectra reveal the multiple orders of diffracted light. For polaritons in GaAs microcavities driven by a surface acoustic wave of nu(SAW)=1 GHz and I-ac less than or similar to 100 W/cm(2) the main acoustically induced band gap can be as large as Delta(MC)(ac)similar or equal to 0.6 meV and the Bragg replicas up to n=3 can be observed.