Linear optical properties of semiconductor microcavities with embedded quantum wells

An overview of the theory of the linear optical response of planar semiconductor microcavities with embedded quantum wells is presented. In particular, the optical properties close to the excitonic transition in the strong coupling regime are addressed and the formalism of exciton polaritons is used. First, the transfer matrix formalism is introduced in order to solve Maxwell equations for the Fabry-Perot microcavity with distributed Bragg reflectors and to study the cavity mode features. Then, the coupling to a quantum well excitonic resonance is included within the semiclassical formalism for the optical response. The main qualitative and quantitative features of microcavity polaritons are illustrated through several calculated optical spectra and, afterwards, a more formal description of the polariton modes is provided. Finally, the problem of the full quantum description of the exciton photon coupling is briefly addressed. The quasimode formalism is introduced and, as an example of application, a simple model for microcavity photoluminescence under nonresonant continuous wave excitation is presented.