Strain-assisted optomechanical coupling of polariton condensate spin to a micromechanical resonator

Abstract: We report spin and intensity coupling of an exciton-polariton condensate to the mechanical vibrations of a circular membrane microcavity. We optically drive the microcavity resonator at the lowest mechanical resonance frequency while creating an optically-trapped spin-polarized polariton condensate in different locations on the microcavity, and observe spin and intensity oscillations of the condensate at the vibration frequency of the resonator. Spin oscillations are induced by vibrational strain driving, whilst the modulation of the optical trap due to the displacement of the membrane causes intensity oscillations in the condensate emission. Our results demonstrate spin-phonon coupling in a macroscopically coherent condensate.