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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
| Published: |
2025
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.13941 |
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| _version_ | 1866916780135415808 |
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| author | Bau, Enrico Aigner, Andreas Biechteler, Jonas Heimig, Connor Goelz, Thorsten Maier, Stefan A. Tittl, Andreas |
| author_facet | Bau, Enrico Aigner, Andreas Biechteler, Jonas Heimig, Connor Goelz, Thorsten Maier, Stefan A. Tittl, Andreas |
| contents | We introduce a platform to achieve ultra-strong coupling (USC) between light and matter using widely available materials. USC is a light-matter interaction regime characterized by coupling strengths exceeding 10% of the ground state energy. It gives rise to novel physical phenomena, such as efficient single-photon coupling and quantum gates, with applications in quantum sensing, nonlinear optics, and low-threshold lasing. Although early demonstrations in plasmonic systems have been realized, achieving USC in dielectric platforms, which offer lower losses and high Q-factors, remains challenging due to typically low mode overlap between the photonic field and the material resonance. Here we leverage dielectric dual gradient metasurfaces supporting quasi-bound states in the continuum to spatially encode both the spectral and coupling parameter space and demonstrate USC to an epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) mode in an ultra-thin SiO2 layer. The strong out-of-plane electric fields in our tapered bar structure overlap exceptionally well with those of the ENZ mode, resulting in a normalized coupling strength of 0.101 and a mode splitting equivalent to 20% of the ENZ mode energy; a four- to five-fold increase compared to previous approaches. The strong field confinement of our approach opens new possibilities for compact and scalable polaritonic devices, such as tunable frequency converters and low-energy optical modulators. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2502_13941 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Spatially Encoded Polaritonic Ultra-Strong Coupling in Gradient Metasurfaces with Epsilon-Near-Zero Modes Bau, Enrico Aigner, Andreas Biechteler, Jonas Heimig, Connor Goelz, Thorsten Maier, Stefan A. Tittl, Andreas Optics Materials Science Applied Physics We introduce a platform to achieve ultra-strong coupling (USC) between light and matter using widely available materials. USC is a light-matter interaction regime characterized by coupling strengths exceeding 10% of the ground state energy. It gives rise to novel physical phenomena, such as efficient single-photon coupling and quantum gates, with applications in quantum sensing, nonlinear optics, and low-threshold lasing. Although early demonstrations in plasmonic systems have been realized, achieving USC in dielectric platforms, which offer lower losses and high Q-factors, remains challenging due to typically low mode overlap between the photonic field and the material resonance. Here we leverage dielectric dual gradient metasurfaces supporting quasi-bound states in the continuum to spatially encode both the spectral and coupling parameter space and demonstrate USC to an epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) mode in an ultra-thin SiO2 layer. The strong out-of-plane electric fields in our tapered bar structure overlap exceptionally well with those of the ENZ mode, resulting in a normalized coupling strength of 0.101 and a mode splitting equivalent to 20% of the ENZ mode energy; a four- to five-fold increase compared to previous approaches. The strong field confinement of our approach opens new possibilities for compact and scalable polaritonic devices, such as tunable frequency converters and low-energy optical modulators. |
| title | Spatially Encoded Polaritonic Ultra-Strong Coupling in Gradient Metasurfaces with Epsilon-Near-Zero Modes |
| topic | Optics Materials Science Applied Physics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.13941 |