Polariton-Assisted Inelastic Tunneling through a Quantum Well

Abstract

We investigate electronic transport through a doped quantum well strongly interacting with a photonic mode confined in a double-metal cavity. Using a nonequilibrium Green's function formalism, we derive compact expressions for the current valid for arbitrary collective light--matter coupling strengths exceeding the relevant loss rates. We show that cavity polaritons leave observable transport signatures when the carrier injection rate is smaller than the cavity-induced electronic broadening. In this regime, the current--voltage characteristics exhibit inelastic sidebands associated with resonant and anti-resonant polariton emission, which are strongly enhanced under resonant illumination. Our results provide a realistic route to detecting cavity-induced modifications of charge transport in semiconductor heterostructures.