Substrate-Mediated Hyperbolic Phonon Polaritons in MoO<sub>3</sub>

ORAL

Abstract

Hyperbolic phonon polaritons (HPhPs) are hybrid excitations of light and coherent charge oscillations that exist in strongly optically anisotropic 2D materials (e.g., MoO3). These polaritons propagate through the material’s volume with long lifetimes, enabling novel mid-infrared nanophotonic applications by compressing light to sub-diffraction dimensions. Here, the dispersion relations and HPhP lifetimes (several ps) in single-crystal α-MoO3 are determined by Fourier analysis of real-space, nanoscale-resolution polariton images obtained with the photothermal induced resonance (PTIR) technique. Measurements of MoO3 crystals deposited on periodic gratings showed longer HPhPs propagation lengths (≈ 2 ×) and lower optical compressions in suspended regions compared to regions in direct contact with the substrate. Additionally, PTIR data reveal polymeric contaminants, resulting from sample preparation, localized under parts of the MoO3 crystals. This work enhances the ability to engineer nanophotonic devices by leveraging substrate morphology to control polariton propagation.

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Presenters

  • Jeffrey Schwartz

    • Physical Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology & Institute for Research in Electronics and Applied Physics, University of Maryland, College P

Authors

  • Jeffrey Schwartz

    • Physical Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology & Institute for Research in Electronics and Applied Physics, University of Maryland, College P

  • Son Le

    • Physical Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology
    • National Institute of Standards and Technology
    • Physical Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology & Theiss Research
    • Theiss Research, Inc., La Jolla, CA and NIST, Gaithersburg, MD

  • Sergiy Krylyuk

    • Material Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology

  • Curt Richter

    • National Institute of Standards and Technology
    • Physical Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology
    • Physical Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD

  • Albert V. Davydov

    • Material Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology
    • National Institute of Standards and Technology

  • Andrea Centrone

    • Physical Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology