Unidirectional ray polaritons in twisted asymmetric stacks

The vast repository of van der Waals (vdW) materials supporting polaritons offers numerous possibilities to tailor electromagnetic waves at the nanoscale. The development of twistoptics-the modulation of the optical properties by twisting stacks of vdW materials-enables directional propagation of phonon polaritons (PhPs) along a single spatial direction, known as canalization. Here we demonstrate a complementary type of directional propagation of polaritons by reporting the visualization of unidirectional ray polaritons (URPs). They arise naturally in twisted hyperbolic stacks with very different thicknesses of their constituents, demonstrated for homostructures of <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mi>α</mml:mi></mml:math> -MoO<sub>3</sub> and heterostructures of <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mi>α</mml:mi></mml:math> -MoO<sub>3</sub> and <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mi>β</mml:mi></mml:math> -Ga<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>. Importantly, their ray-like propagation, characterized by large momenta and constant phase, is tunable by both the twist angle and the illumination frequency. Apart from their fundamental importance, our findings introduce twisted asymmetric stacks as efficient platforms for nanoscale directional polariton propagation, opening the door for applications in nanoimaging, (bio)-sensing, or polaritonic thermal management.

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Publication Details

Journal
Nature Communications
Published
2024-10-19
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-52750-3
Citations
19
Primary Topic
Thermal Radiation and Cooling Technologies
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
4.96

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article

Unidirectional ray polaritons in twisted asymmetric stacks

Javier Martín‐Sánchez, Thomas G. Folland, Susanne C. Kehr, Lucía Herrer et al.
19 citations
Nature Communications
Thermal Radiation and Cooling Technologies
4.96
article

Unidirectional ray polaritons in twisted asymmetric stacks

Javier Martín‐Sánchez, Thomas G. Folland, Susanne C. Kehr, Lucía Herrer, Giulia Carini, J. M. De Teresa, J. Michael Klopf, Katja Diaz‐Granados, Sören Waßerroth, Alexey Y. Nikitin, Ryan A. Kowalski, Martin Obst, C. Lanza, Ana I. F. Tresguerres‐Mata, Alexander Paarmann, Aitana Tarazaga Martín-Luengo, Lukas M. Eng, Pablo Alonso‐González, Joshua D. Caldwell, Saurabh Dixit, Thomas E. Beechem, José Álvarez-Cuervo, A. S. Senerath, Enrique Terán-García, Martin Wolf, Nicole Mueller, L F Álvarez-Tomillo
article en
19 citations

Abstract

The vast repository of van der Waals (vdW) materials supporting polaritons offers numerous possibilities to tailor electromagnetic waves at the nanoscale. The development of twistoptics-the modulation of the optical properties by twisting stacks of vdW materials-enables directional propagation of phonon polaritons (PhPs) along a single spatial direction, known as canalization. Here we demonstrate a complementary type of directional propagation of polaritons by reporting the visualization of unidirectional ray polaritons (URPs). They arise naturally in twisted hyperbolic stacks with very different thicknesses of their constituents, demonstrated for homostructures of <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mi>α</mml:mi></mml:math> -MoO<sub>3</sub> and heterostructures of <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mi>α</mml:mi></mml:math> -MoO<sub>3</sub> and <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mi>β</mml:mi></mml:math> -Ga<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>. Importantly, their ray-like propagation, characterized by large momenta and constant phase, is tunable by both the twist angle and the illumination frequency. Apart from their fundamental importance, our findings introduce twisted asymmetric stacks as efficient platforms for nanoscale directional polariton propagation, opening the door for applications in nanoimaging, (bio)-sensing, or polaritonic thermal management.

Nature CommunicationsVol. 15(1)
Ikerbasque (ES), University of Iowa (US), Universidad de Oviedo (ES), Vanderbilt University (US), Purdue University West Lafayette (US), Universidad de Zaragoza (ES), Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society (DE), Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (DE), Complexity and Topology in Quantum Matter (DE), Instituto de Nanociencia y Materiales de Aragón (ES), Nanomaterials and Nanotechnology Research Center (ES), Center for Biomolecular Nanotechnologies (IT), Donostia International Physics Center (ES), Technische Universität Dresden (DE)
National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Gobierno del Principado de Asturias, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, Nuclear Safety and Security Commission, Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Universidad de Zaragoza, Gobierno de Aragón, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative, Agencia Estatal de Investigación, Office of Naval Research, Basic Energy Sciences, Army Research Office
Openalex Percentile: Top 4%
Thermal Radiation and Cooling Technologies
4.96
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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