Third emission mechanism in solid-state nanocavity quantum electrodynamics

Photonic crystal (PC) nanocavities have been receiving a great deal of attention recently because of their ability to strongly confine photons in a tiny space with a high quality factor. According to cavity quantum electrodynamics (cavity QED), such confined photons can achieve efficient interactions with excitons in semiconductors, leading to the Purcell effect in the weak coupling regime and vacuum Rabi splitting (VRS) in the strong coupling regime. These features are promising for applications such as quantum information processing, highly efficient single photon sources and ultra-low threshold lasers. In this context, the coupled system of a semiconductor quantum dot (QD) and a PC nanocavity has been intensively investigated in recent years. Although experimental reports have demonstrated such fundamental features, two anomalous phenomena have also been observed. First, photon emission from the cavity occurs even when it is significantly detuned from the QD. Second, spectral triplets are formed by additional bare-cavity lines between the VRS lines. These features cannot be explained by standard cavity QED theories and have prompted controversy regarding their physical mechanisms. In this review we describe the recent experimental and theoretical progress made in the investigation of these phenomena. Similar mechanisms will also occur in many other coupled quantum systems, and thus the findings are applicable to a wide range of fields.