Quantum vacuum radiation spectra from a semiconductor microcavity with a time-modulated vacuum Rabi frequency

We develop a general theory of the quantum vacuum radiation generated by an arbitrary time-modulation of the vacuum Rabi frequency for an intersubband transition of a doped quantum well system embedded in a semiconductor planar microcavity. Both non-radiative and radiative losses are included within an input-output quantum Langevin framework. The intensity and the main spectral signatures of the extra-cavity emission are characterized as a function of the amplitude and the frequency of the vacuum modulation. A significant amount of photon pairs, which can largely exceed the black-body radiation in the mid and far infrared, is shown to be produced with realistic parameters. For a large amplitude resonant modulation, a parametric oscillation regime can be also achieved.