1 research outputs found
Polariton Nanophotonics using Phase Change Materials
Polaritons formed by the coupling of light and material excitations such as
plasmons, phonons, or excitons enable light-matter interactions at the
nanoscale beyond what is currently possible with conventional optics. Recently,
significant interest has been attracted by polaritons in van der Waals
materials, which could lead to applications in sensing, integrated photonic
circuits and detectors. However, novel techniques are required to control the
propagation of polaritons at the nanoscale and to implement the first practical
devices. Here we report the experimental realization of polariton refractive
and meta-optics in the mid-infrared by exploiting the properties of low-loss
phonon polaritons in isotopically pure hexagonal boron nitride (hBN), which
allow it to interact with the surrounding dielectric environment comprising the
low-loss phase change material, GeSbTe (GST). We demonstrate
waveguides which confine polaritons in a 1D geometry, and refractive optical
elements such as lenses and prisms for phonon polaritons in hBN, which we
characterize using scanning near field optical microscopy. Furthermore, we
demonstrate metalenses, which allow for polariton wavefront engineering and
sub-wavelength focusing. Our method, due to its sub-diffraction and planar
nature, will enable the realization of programmable miniaturized integrated
optoelectronic devices, and will lay the foundation for on-demand biosensors.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures, typos corrected in v