Abstract
We report an experimental study of superfluid hydrodynamic effects in a one-dimensional polariton fluid flowing along a laterally patterned semiconductor microcavity and hitting a micron-sized engineered defect. At high excitation power, superfluid propagation effects are observed in the polariton dynamics; in particular, a sharp acoustic horizon is formed at the defect position, separating regions of sub- and supersonic flow. Our experimental findings are quantitatively reproduced by theoretical calculations based on a generalized Gross-Pitaevskii equation. Promising perspectives to observe Hawking radiation via photon correlation measurements are illustrated.
- Received 6 October 2014
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.114.036402
© 2015 American Physical Society
Synopsis
A Black Hole for Polaritons
Published 22 January 2015
The flow of hybrid electron-photon states through a black-hole-like “acoustic horizon” may produce an observable signature of Hawking radiation.
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