Long-Lived Phonon Polaritons in Hyperbolic Materials

Guangxin Ni; Alexander S. McLeod; Zhiyuan Sun; Joseph R. Matson; Chiu Fan Bowen Lo; Daniel A. Rhodes; Francesco L. Ruta; Samuel L. Moore; Rocco A. Vitalone; Ramon Cusco; Luis Artús; Lin Xiong; Cory R. Dean; James C. Hone; Andrew J. Millis; Michael M. Fogler; James H. Edgar; Joshua D. Caldwell; D. N. Basov

doi:10.1021/acs.nanolett.1c01562

Long-Lived Phonon Polaritons in Hyperbolic Materials

Guangxin Ni, Alexander S. McLeod, Zhiyuan Sun, Joseph R. Matson, Chiu Fan Bowen Lo, Daniel A. Rhodes, Francesco L. Ruta, Samuel L. Moore, Rocco A. Vitalone, Ramon Cusco, Luis Artús, Lin Xiong, Cory R. Dean, James C. Hone, Andrew J. Millis, Michael M. Fogler, James H. Edgar, Joshua D. Caldwell, D. N. Basov

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

44 Scopus citations

Abstract

Natural hyperbolic materials with dielectric permittivities of opposite signs along different principal axes can confine long-wavelength electromagnetic waves down to the nanoscale, well below the diffraction limit. Confined electromagnetic waves coupled to phonons in hyperbolic dielectrics including hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) and α-MoO₃are referred to as hyperbolic phonon polaritons (HPPs). HPP dissipation at ambient conditions is substantial, and its fundamental limits remain unexplored. Here, we exploit cryogenic nanoinfrared imaging to investigate propagating HPPs in isotopically pure hBN and naturally abundant α-MoO₃crystals. Close to liquid-nitrogen temperatures, losses for HPPs in isotopic hBN drop significantly, resulting in propagation lengths in excess of 8 μm, with lifetimes exceeding 5 ps, thereby surpassing prior reports on such highly confined polaritonic modes. Our nanoscale, temperature-dependent imaging reveals the relevance of acoustic phonons in HPP damping and will be instrumental in mitigating such losses for miniaturized mid-infrared technologies operating at liquid-nitrogen temperatures.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	5767-5773
Number of pages	7
Journal	Nano letters
Volume	21
Issue number	13
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.1c01562
State	Published - Jul 14 2021
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Research at Columbia is supported by Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellowship ONR-VB: N00014-19-1-2630. We thank A. Sternbach and S. Zhang for helpful discussions. Exfoliation and transfer of hBN onto desired substrates and electron beam lithography of gold disks were performed by J.T.M. and supported by the National Science Foundation (DMR1904793). Additional structure fabrication was supported by the Center on Precision-Assembled Quantum Materials, funded through the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers (award no. DMR-2011738). Initial simulations and experimental design from Vanderbilt were provided by J.D.C. in collaboration with the Columbia team (D.N.B. and G.N.) and was supported by the Office of Naval Research (N00014-18-1-2107). The hBN phonon band structure calculation was performed by R.C. and L.A. and supported by the Spanish MINECO/FEDER grant (MAT2015-71035-R). Cryogenics nano-optics experiments at Columbia were solely supported as part of Programmable Quantum Materials, an Energy Frontier Research Center funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences (BES), under award no. DE-SC0019443. D.N.B is the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation’s EPiQS Initiative Investigator no. 9455.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 American Chemical Society

Keywords

hyperbolic materials
nanoinfrared imaging
phonon polaritons
van der Waals heterostructures

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10.1021/acs.nanolett.1c01562

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Ni, G., McLeod, A. S., Sun, Z., Matson, J. R., Lo, C. F. B., Rhodes, D. A., Ruta, F. L., Moore, S. L., Vitalone, R. A., Cusco, R., Artús, L., Xiong, L., Dean, C. R., Hone, J. C., Millis, A. J., Fogler, M. M., Edgar, J. H., Caldwell, J. D., & Basov, D. N. (2021). Long-Lived Phonon Polaritons in Hyperbolic Materials. Nano letters, 21(13), 5767-5773. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.1c01562

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title = "Long-Lived Phonon Polaritons in Hyperbolic Materials",

abstract = "Natural hyperbolic materials with dielectric permittivities of opposite signs along different principal axes can confine long-wavelength electromagnetic waves down to the nanoscale, well below the diffraction limit. Confined electromagnetic waves coupled to phonons in hyperbolic dielectrics including hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) and α-MoO3are referred to as hyperbolic phonon polaritons (HPPs). HPP dissipation at ambient conditions is substantial, and its fundamental limits remain unexplored. Here, we exploit cryogenic nanoinfrared imaging to investigate propagating HPPs in isotopically pure hBN and naturally abundant α-MoO3crystals. Close to liquid-nitrogen temperatures, losses for HPPs in isotopic hBN drop significantly, resulting in propagation lengths in excess of 8 μm, with lifetimes exceeding 5 ps, thereby surpassing prior reports on such highly confined polaritonic modes. Our nanoscale, temperature-dependent imaging reveals the relevance of acoustic phonons in HPP damping and will be instrumental in mitigating such losses for miniaturized mid-infrared technologies operating at liquid-nitrogen temperatures.",

keywords = "hyperbolic materials, nanoinfrared imaging, phonon polaritons, van der Waals heterostructures",

author = "Guangxin Ni and McLeod, {Alexander S.} and Zhiyuan Sun and Matson, {Joseph R.} and Lo, {Chiu Fan Bowen} and Rhodes, {Daniel A.} and Ruta, {Francesco L.} and Moore, {Samuel L.} and Vitalone, {Rocco A.} and Ramon Cusco and Luis Art{\'u}s and Lin Xiong and Dean, {Cory R.} and Hone, {James C.} and Millis, {Andrew J.} and Fogler, {Michael M.} and Edgar, {James H.} and Caldwell, {Joshua D.} and Basov, {D. N.}",

note = "Funding Information: Research at Columbia is supported by Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellowship ONR-VB: N00014-19-1-2630. We thank A. Sternbach and S. Zhang for helpful discussions. Exfoliation and transfer of hBN onto desired substrates and electron beam lithography of gold disks were performed by J.T.M. and supported by the National Science Foundation (DMR1904793). Additional structure fabrication was supported by the Center on Precision-Assembled Quantum Materials, funded through the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers (award no. DMR-2011738). Initial simulations and experimental design from Vanderbilt were provided by J.D.C. in collaboration with the Columbia team (D.N.B. and G.N.) and was supported by the Office of Naval Research (N00014-18-1-2107). The hBN phonon band structure calculation was performed by R.C. and L.A. and supported by the Spanish MINECO/FEDER grant (MAT2015-71035-R). Cryogenics nano-optics experiments at Columbia were solely supported as part of Programmable Quantum Materials, an Energy Frontier Research Center funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences (BES), under award no. DE-SC0019443. D.N.B is the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation{\textquoteright}s EPiQS Initiative Investigator no. 9455. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 American Chemical Society",

year = "2021",

month = jul,

day = "14",

doi = "10.1021/acs.nanolett.1c01562",

language = "English (US)",

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T1 - Long-Lived Phonon Polaritons in Hyperbolic Materials

AU - Ni, Guangxin

AU - McLeod, Alexander S.

AU - Sun, Zhiyuan

AU - Matson, Joseph R.

AU - Lo, Chiu Fan Bowen

AU - Rhodes, Daniel A.

AU - Ruta, Francesco L.

AU - Moore, Samuel L.

AU - Vitalone, Rocco A.

AU - Cusco, Ramon

AU - Artús, Luis

AU - Xiong, Lin

AU - Dean, Cory R.

AU - Hone, James C.

AU - Millis, Andrew J.

AU - Fogler, Michael M.

AU - Edgar, James H.

AU - Caldwell, Joshua D.

AU - Basov, D. N.

N1 - Funding Information: Research at Columbia is supported by Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellowship ONR-VB: N00014-19-1-2630. We thank A. Sternbach and S. Zhang for helpful discussions. Exfoliation and transfer of hBN onto desired substrates and electron beam lithography of gold disks were performed by J.T.M. and supported by the National Science Foundation (DMR1904793). Additional structure fabrication was supported by the Center on Precision-Assembled Quantum Materials, funded through the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers (award no. DMR-2011738). Initial simulations and experimental design from Vanderbilt were provided by J.D.C. in collaboration with the Columbia team (D.N.B. and G.N.) and was supported by the Office of Naval Research (N00014-18-1-2107). The hBN phonon band structure calculation was performed by R.C. and L.A. and supported by the Spanish MINECO/FEDER grant (MAT2015-71035-R). Cryogenics nano-optics experiments at Columbia were solely supported as part of Programmable Quantum Materials, an Energy Frontier Research Center funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences (BES), under award no. DE-SC0019443. D.N.B is the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation’s EPiQS Initiative Investigator no. 9455. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 American Chemical Society

PY - 2021/7/14

Y1 - 2021/7/14

N2 - Natural hyperbolic materials with dielectric permittivities of opposite signs along different principal axes can confine long-wavelength electromagnetic waves down to the nanoscale, well below the diffraction limit. Confined electromagnetic waves coupled to phonons in hyperbolic dielectrics including hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) and α-MoO3are referred to as hyperbolic phonon polaritons (HPPs). HPP dissipation at ambient conditions is substantial, and its fundamental limits remain unexplored. Here, we exploit cryogenic nanoinfrared imaging to investigate propagating HPPs in isotopically pure hBN and naturally abundant α-MoO3crystals. Close to liquid-nitrogen temperatures, losses for HPPs in isotopic hBN drop significantly, resulting in propagation lengths in excess of 8 μm, with lifetimes exceeding 5 ps, thereby surpassing prior reports on such highly confined polaritonic modes. Our nanoscale, temperature-dependent imaging reveals the relevance of acoustic phonons in HPP damping and will be instrumental in mitigating such losses for miniaturized mid-infrared technologies operating at liquid-nitrogen temperatures.

AB - Natural hyperbolic materials with dielectric permittivities of opposite signs along different principal axes can confine long-wavelength electromagnetic waves down to the nanoscale, well below the diffraction limit. Confined electromagnetic waves coupled to phonons in hyperbolic dielectrics including hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) and α-MoO3are referred to as hyperbolic phonon polaritons (HPPs). HPP dissipation at ambient conditions is substantial, and its fundamental limits remain unexplored. Here, we exploit cryogenic nanoinfrared imaging to investigate propagating HPPs in isotopically pure hBN and naturally abundant α-MoO3crystals. Close to liquid-nitrogen temperatures, losses for HPPs in isotopic hBN drop significantly, resulting in propagation lengths in excess of 8 μm, with lifetimes exceeding 5 ps, thereby surpassing prior reports on such highly confined polaritonic modes. Our nanoscale, temperature-dependent imaging reveals the relevance of acoustic phonons in HPP damping and will be instrumental in mitigating such losses for miniaturized mid-infrared technologies operating at liquid-nitrogen temperatures.

KW - hyperbolic materials

KW - nanoinfrared imaging

KW - phonon polaritons

KW - van der Waals heterostructures

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ER -

Long-Lived Phonon Polaritons in Hyperbolic Materials

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