Title
Selective excitation and imaging of ultraslow phonon polaritons in thin hexagonal boron nitride crystals
Date Issued
01 December 2018
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Harvard University
Publisher(s)
Nature Publishing Group
Abstract
We selectively excite and study two new types of phonon-polariton guided modes that are found in hexagonal boron nitride thin flakes on a gold substrate. Such modes show substantially improved confinement and a group velocity that is hundreds of times slower than the speed of light, thereby providing a new way to create slow light in the mid-infrared range with a simple structure that does not require nano-patterning. One mode is the fundamental mode in the first Restrahlen band of hexagonal boron nitride thin crystals on a gold substrate; the other mode is equivalent to the second mode of the second Restrahlen band of hexagonal boron nitride flakes that are suspended in vacuum. The new modes also couple efficiently with incident light at the hexagonal boron nitride edges, as we demonstrate experimentally using photo-induced force microscopy and scanning near-field optical microscopy. The high confinement of these modes allows for Purcell factors that are on the order of tens of thousands directly above boron nitride and a wide band, with new perspectives for enhanced light-matter interaction. Our findings demonstrate a new approach to engineering the dispersion of polaritons in 2D materials to improve confinement and light-matter interaction, thereby paving the way for new applications in mid-infrared nano-optics.
Volume
7
Issue
1
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Nano-procesos
Óptica
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85049254085
Source
Light: Science and Applications
ISSN of the container
20955545
Sponsor(s)
National Science Foundation - 1541959, 1542807.
Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung - 168545.
Sources of information:
Directorio de Producción Científica
Scopus