Prospects to bypass nonlocal phenomena in metals using phonon-polaritons

Fuente: arXiv
Salvato in:
Dettagli Bibliografici
Autori principali: Heiden, Jacob T., Dias, Eduardo J. C., Kim, Minhyuk, Nørgaard, Martin, Zenin, Vladimir A., Menabde, Sergey G., Jeong, Hu Young, Mortensen, N. Asger, Jang, Min Seok
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2025
Soggetti:
Accesso online:
Tags: Aggiungi Tag
Nessun Tag, puoi essere il primo ad aggiungerne!!
_version_ 1866912798790909952
author Heiden, Jacob T.
Dias, Eduardo J. C.
Kim, Minhyuk
Nørgaard, Martin
Zenin, Vladimir A.
Menabde, Sergey G.
Jeong, Hu Young
Mortensen, N. Asger
Jang, Min Seok
author_facet Heiden, Jacob T.
Dias, Eduardo J. C.
Kim, Minhyuk
Nørgaard, Martin
Zenin, Vladimir A.
Menabde, Sergey G.
Jeong, Hu Young
Mortensen, N. Asger
Jang, Min Seok
contents Electromagnetic design relies on an accurate understanding of light-matter interactions, yet often overlooks electronic length scales. Under extreme confinement, this omission can lead to nonclassical effects, such as nonlocal response. Here, we use mid-infrared phonon-polaritons in hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) screened by monocrystalline gold flakes to push the limits of nanolight confinement unobstructed by nonlocal phenomena, even when the polariton phase velocity approaches the Fermi velocities of electrons in gold. We employ near-field imaging to probe polaritons in nanometre-thin crystals of hBN on gold and extract their complex propagation constant, observing effective indices exceeding 90. We further show the importance of sample characterisation by revealing a thin low-index interfacial layer naturally forming on monocrystalline gold. Our experiments address a fundamental limitation posed by nonlocal effects in van der Waals heterostructures and outline a pathway to bypass their impact in high-confinement regimes.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2503_16863
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Prospects to bypass nonlocal phenomena in metals using phonon-polaritons
Heiden, Jacob T.
Dias, Eduardo J. C.
Kim, Minhyuk
Nørgaard, Martin
Zenin, Vladimir A.
Menabde, Sergey G.
Jeong, Hu Young
Mortensen, N. Asger
Jang, Min Seok
Optics
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Electromagnetic design relies on an accurate understanding of light-matter interactions, yet often overlooks electronic length scales. Under extreme confinement, this omission can lead to nonclassical effects, such as nonlocal response. Here, we use mid-infrared phonon-polaritons in hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) screened by monocrystalline gold flakes to push the limits of nanolight confinement unobstructed by nonlocal phenomena, even when the polariton phase velocity approaches the Fermi velocities of electrons in gold. We employ near-field imaging to probe polaritons in nanometre-thin crystals of hBN on gold and extract their complex propagation constant, observing effective indices exceeding 90. We further show the importance of sample characterisation by revealing a thin low-index interfacial layer naturally forming on monocrystalline gold. Our experiments address a fundamental limitation posed by nonlocal effects in van der Waals heterostructures and outline a pathway to bypass their impact in high-confinement regimes.
title Prospects to bypass nonlocal phenomena in metals using phonon-polaritons
topic Optics
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.16863