Does anyone have experience or know what a "Polariton" is?

[fermatsenigma]

I have read some material on polaritons but I am not grasping it very well. Would someone like to attempt to explain it?

[ardie]

an imaginary photon used to define the energy associated with interaction of photons with matter or otherwise interactions between two materials.

[SpectraCat]

A polariton is a quasi-particle describing the (localized) response from the coupling of an elecrtonic dipole transition in a material with an applied electromagnetic field (i.e a photon). Examples are optical phonons and surface-plasmons.