Large-signal coherent control of normal modes in quantum-well semiconductor microcavity

We demonstrate coherent control of the cavity-polariton modes of a quantum-well semiconductor microcavity in a two-color scheme. The cavity enhancement of the excitonic nonlinearity gives rise to a large signal; modulating the relative phase of the excitation pulses between zero and π produces a differential reflectivity (ΔR/R) of up to 20%. The maximum nonlinear signal is obtained for cocircular pump and probe polarization. Excitation-induced dephasing is responsible for the incoherent nonlinear response, and limits the contrast ratio of the optical switching.