Polariton thermalization in GaN microcavities in the strong light-matter coupling regime

We discuss the thermalization of the polariton population from a bulk GaN λ/2 microcavity at room temperature. Simultaneous optical measurements of reflectivity and photoluminescence (PL), as well as time resolved measurements, reveal strong light-matter coupling. Transfer matrix theory is used to calculate reflectivity, absorption, and transmission coefficients for the structure. The PL emission is found to be thermalized, despite its very short lifetime, suggesting the existence of very fast energy relaxation channels.