In-plane propagation of excitonic cavity polaritons

By exciting resonantly a microcavity with a pulsed laser beam, we have observed the in-plane propagation of excitonic cavity polaritons over distances much greater than the wavelength. The initial in-plane wave vector is conserved during the propagation, showing that it is a good quantum number for cavity polaritons. The polariton group velocities were measured as a function of both the in-plane wave vector and detuning. Propagation is faster for negative detunings where the polaritons have a light effective mass. The observations are in good agreement with a simple two-oscillator model.