Probing the Dynamics of Spontaneous Quantum Vortices in Polariton Superfluids
arXiv:1009.5907 · doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.115301
Abstract
The experimental investigation of spontaneously created vortices is of utmost importance for the understanding of quantum phase transitions towards a superfluid phase, especially for two dimensional systems that are expected to be governed by the Berezinski-Kosterlitz-Thouless physics. By means of time resolved near-field interferometry we track the path of such vortices, created at random locations in an exciton-polariton condensate under pulsed non-resonant excitation, to their final pinning positions imposed by the stationary disorder. We formulate a theoretical model that successfully reproduces the experimental observations.