title: Probing the dynamics of spontaneous quantum vortices in polariton superfluids.
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 nonresonant excitation, to their final pinning positions imposed by the stationary disorder. We formulate a theoretical model that successfully reproduces the experimental observations.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Condensed Matter Physics, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: K G
authors.initials: KG
authors.lastname: Lagoudakis
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Manni
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Pietka
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wouters
authors.forename: T C H
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Liew
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Savona
authors.forename: A V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Kavokin
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: André
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Deveaud-Plédran