TY - JOUR
T1 - Unveiling the Mechanism of Phonon-Polariton Damping in α-MoO3
AU - Taboada-Gutiérrez, Javier
AU - Zhou, Yixi
AU - Tresguerres-Mata, Ana I.F.
AU - Lanza, Christian
AU - Martínez-Suárez, Abel
AU - Álvarez-Pérez, Gonzalo
AU - Duan, Jiahua
AU - Martín, José Ignacio
AU - Vélez, María
AU - Prieto, Iván
AU - Bercher, Adrien
AU - Teyssier, Jérémie
AU - Errea, Ion
AU - Nikitin, Alexey Y.
AU - Martín-Sánchez, Javier
AU - Kuzmenko, Alexey B.
AU - Alonso-González, Pablo
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.
PY - 2024/9/18
Y1 - 2024/9/18
N2 - Phonon polaritons (PhPs), light coupled to lattice vibrations, in the highly anisotropic polar layered material molybdenum trioxide (α-MoO3) are currently the focus of intense research efforts due to their extreme subwavelength field confinement, directional propagation, and unprecedented low losses. Nevertheless, prior research has primarily concentrated on exploiting the squeezing and steering capabilities of α-MoO3 PhPs, without inquiring much into the dominant microscopic mechanism that determines their long lifetimes, which is key for their implementation in nanophotonic applications. This study delves into the fundamental processes that govern PhP damping in α-MoO3 by combining ab initio calculations with scattering-type scanning near-field optical microscopy (s-SNOM) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy measurements across a broad temperature range (8-300 K). The remarkable agreement between our theoretical predictions and experimental observations allows us to identify third-order anharmonic phonon-phonon scattering as the main damping mechanism of α-MoO3 PhPs. These findings shed light on the fundamental limits of low-loss PhPs, which is a crucial factor for assessing their implementation into nanophotonic devices.
AB - Phonon polaritons (PhPs), light coupled to lattice vibrations, in the highly anisotropic polar layered material molybdenum trioxide (α-MoO3) are currently the focus of intense research efforts due to their extreme subwavelength field confinement, directional propagation, and unprecedented low losses. Nevertheless, prior research has primarily concentrated on exploiting the squeezing and steering capabilities of α-MoO3 PhPs, without inquiring much into the dominant microscopic mechanism that determines their long lifetimes, which is key for their implementation in nanophotonic applications. This study delves into the fundamental processes that govern PhP damping in α-MoO3 by combining ab initio calculations with scattering-type scanning near-field optical microscopy (s-SNOM) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy measurements across a broad temperature range (8-300 K). The remarkable agreement between our theoretical predictions and experimental observations allows us to identify third-order anharmonic phonon-phonon scattering as the main damping mechanism of α-MoO3 PhPs. These findings shed light on the fundamental limits of low-loss PhPs, which is a crucial factor for assessing their implementation into nanophotonic devices.
KW - hyperbolic materials
KW - low-temperature s-SNOM
KW - phonon polaritons
KW - van der Waals materials
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85201887522&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1021/acsphotonics.4c00485
DO - 10.1021/acsphotonics.4c00485
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85201887522
SN - 2330-4022
VL - 11
SP - 3570
EP - 3577
JO - ACS Photonics
JF - ACS Photonics
IS - 9
ER -