Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 14, 2025

Probe Type II Band Alignment in One-Dimensional Van Der Waals Heterostructures Using First-Principles Calculations
Published on: October 12, 2019
Image polaritons in boron nitride for extreme polariton confinement with low losses
In-Ho Lee1, Mingze He2, Xi Zhang3
1Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
Abstract:
Polaritons in two-dimensional materials provide extreme light confinement that is difficult to achieve with metal plasmonics. However, such tight confinement inevitably increases optical losses through various damping channels. Here we demonstrate that hyperbolic phonon polaritons in hexagonal boron nitride can overcome this fundamental trade-off. Among two observed polariton modes, featuring a symmetric and antisymmetric charge distribution, the latter exhibits lower optical losses and tighter polariton confinement. Far-field excitation and detection of this high-momenta mode become possible with our resonator design that can boost the coupling efficiency via virtual polariton modes with image charges that we dub 'image polaritons'. Using these image polaritons, we experimentally observe a record-high effective index of up to 132 and quality factors as high as 501. Further, our phenomenological theory suggests an important role of hyperbolic surface scattering in the damping process of hyperbolic phonon polaritons.
More Related Videos
07:56A Photonic System for Generating Unconditional Polarization-Entangled Photons Based on Multiple Quantum Interference
Published on: September 5, 2019
09:00Experimental Methods for Spin- and Angle-Resolved Photoemission Spectroscopy Combined with Polarization-Variable Laser
Published on: June 28, 2018
Related Concept Videos
Insensitive Nuclei Enhanced by Polarization Transfer (INEPT)
Potential Due to a Polarized Object
Dielectric Polarization in a Capacitor
Molecular Shape and Polarity
Biasing of P-N Junction
In equilibrium, no external voltage is applied across the p-n junction. The depletion region is formed at the junction interface due to the diffusion of carriers, which leaves behind charged dopants, acceptors on the p-side, and donors on the n-side. These immobile charges create an electric field that prevents further diffusion of carriers. The related energy band...
Hybridization of Atomic Orbitals I