High-sensitivity polarization modulation reflectance spectroscopy of cavity polaritons in a ZnO microcavity

We report that polarization modulation reflectance (PMR) spectroscopy is highly sensitive to the cavity polaritons in a ZnO microcavity with HfO2/SiO2 distributed Bragg reflectors. We demonstrate that the cavity-polariton dispersion, even in the energy region of strong absorption by exciton continuum states, is clearly observed by PMR spectroscopy. The PMR spectra were quantitatively analyzed by a transfer-matrix method taking into account three types of excitons labeled A, B, and C. Line-shape analysis of the PMR spectra indicates that the anisotropy of the excitonic transitions is considerable in treating the cavity polariton in the ZnO microcavity. (C) 2014 The Japan Society of Applied Physics