Backscattering Suppression in Supersonic 1D Polariton Condensates

We investigate the effect of disorder on the propagation of one-dimensional polariton condensates in semiconductor microcavities. We observe a strong suppression of the backscattering produced by the imperfections of the structure when increasing the condensate density. This suppression occurs in the supersonic regime and is simultaneous to the onset of parametric instabilities which enable the hopping of the condensate through the disorder. Our results evidence a new mechanism for the strong scattering reduction of polaritons at high speeds.