Superconductivity and other collective phenomena in a hybrid Bose-Fermi mixture formed by a polariton condensate and an electron system in two dimensions

Interacting Bose-Fermi systems play a central role in condensed matter physics. Here, we analyze a novel Bose-Fermi mixture formed by a cavity exciton-polariton condensate interacting with a two-dimensional electron system. We show that that previous predictions of superconductivity [F. P. Laussy, Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 106402 (2010)] and excitonic supersolid formation [I. A. Shelykh, Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 140402 (2010)] in this system are closely intertwined, resembling the predictions for strongly correlated electron systems such as high-temperature superconductors. In stark contrast to a large majority of Bose-Fermi systems analyzed in solids and ultracold atomic gases, the renormalized interaction between the polaritons and electrons in our system is long-ranged and strongly peaked at a tunable wave vector, which can be rendered incommensurate with the Fermi momentum. We analyze the prospects for experimental observation of superconductivity and find that critical temperatures on the order of a few kelvins can be achieved in heterostructures consisting of transition metal dichalcogenide monolayers that are embedded in an open cavity structure. All-optical control of superconductivity in semiconductor heterostructures could enable the realization of new device concepts compatible with semiconductor nanotechnology. In addition the possibility to interface quantum Hall physics, superconductivity, and nonequilibrium polariton condensates is likely to provide fertile ground for investigation of completely new physical phenomena.