Effects of the piezoelectric field on the modulation of exciton–polaritons by surface acoustic waves

Surface acoustic waves (SAWs) provide a powerful tool for the modulation of polaritons in GaAs-based microcavities. In this contribution, we compare the modulation introduced by SAWs propagating along piezoelectric and non-piezoelectric crystal directions of the sample surface. Strain calculations reveal that the type-I band-gap modulation induced by the strain field is comparable for both SAW types. Piezoelectric SAWs have, however, an intrinsic longitudinal electric field, which can dissociate quantum well (QW) excitons and, thus, degrade the modulation. Images of the polariton far-field photoluminescence reveal this behavior for different excitation conditions.