Fluctuation-induced transitions of a bistable driven polariton system in the presence of damping

Fluctuation-induced transitions from the lower energy state of a bistable nonlinear driven microcavity oscillator are analyzed beyond the Fluctuation–Dissipation theorem. The sources of noise are: both fluctuations of the external pumping and inevitable interaction with the exciton reservoir in the cavity. We show that finite polariton lifetime strongly modifies the phase portrait and influences the temporal parameters of the transition within the bistable regime. To investigate the transient dynamics of the driven polariton system, three different approaches are realized: numerical experiment (1), i.e. direct solution of the quasiclassical dynamic equation for polariton amplitude driven by an external pump, (2) solution of two dimensional Fokker–Planck-equation and (3) effective one dimensional Fokker–Planck-equation, obtained within a low-damping approximation. We show that the escape times obtained within the numerical experiment and the 2D-Fokker–Planck-equation coincide. In contrast, the one dimensional Fokker–Planck-approximation fails for large damping parameters due to strong deviation of the phase trajectories from those obtained within the low-damping approximation. The range of the ratio between damping and detuning for which the 1d approximation is valid, is shown to be smaller than 0.04. Finally, we determine the impact of the fluctuations on experiments illustrated by the narrowing of the hysteresis cycle.