Two-dimensional metal oxide polaritonics
Two-dimensional (2D) metal oxides (MOs) are crucial materials in semiconductor optoelectronics and energy applications. Recently, ultra-confined and anisotropic polaritons, which are hybrid light-matter waves, in 2D MOs have renewed interest in the field of nanophotonics. With natural abundance, diverse compositions, and rich symmetries, MOs exhibit a wide range of electromagnetic responses from the visible to terahertz spectral range, providing various polariton platforms for designing on-chip photonic integrated circuits. In this Review, we discuss crystal symmetry and polaritons in MOs, present intrinsic and extrinsic manipulation approaches, and summarize strategies for synthesizing 2D polaritonic MOs. We also propose 2D MO-based polaritonic device architectures for use in heat management, photonics, and biosensing, all of which could be integrated into future photonic chips. Overall, with the rapid flourishing of 2D MO polaritonics, this review aims to stimulate further exploration and innovation for next-generation on-chip photonic systems. Metal oxides support a broad range of polaritons. In this review, the authors extend this to the emerging family of two-dimensional metal oxides and cover the impact of crystal structure and extrinsic manipulation on the polaritons along with synthesis approaches and future photonics applications.
Authors
- Weiliang Ma (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6558-5738)
- Jingda Wu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6783-8719)
- Stefan Alexander Maier (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9704-7902)
- Qiaoliang Bao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6971-789X)
- Peining Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3836-3803)
- Chunqi Zheng
- Qingdong Ou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2161-2543)
- Huanyang Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4292-0441)
- Kostya S. Novoselov (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4972-5371)
- Zhe Cui (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2967-8566)
- Cheng‐Wei Qiu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6605-500X)
- Gang Zhong
Institutions
- Macau University of Science and Technology (MO)
- University of Shanghai for Science and Technology (CN)
- University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (CN)
- National University of Singapore (SG)
- Xiamen University (CN)
- University of Macau (MO)
- National Engineering Research Center of Electromagnetic Radiation Control Materials (CN)
- Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics (CN)
- Imperial College London (GB)
- Huazhong University of Science and Technology (CN)
- Monash University (AU)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2026-09-12
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-77629-3
- Primary Topic
- Strong Light-Matter Interactions
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Australian National Fabrication Facility
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province
- Fundo para o Desenvolvimento das Ciências e da Tecnologia