Broad spectral tuning of ultra-low-loss polaritons in a van der Waals crystal by intercalation

Javier Taboada-Gutiérrez; Gonzalo Álvarez-Pérez; Jiahua Duan; Weiliang Ma; Kyle Crowley; Iván Prieto; Andrei Bylinkin; Marta Autore; Halyna Volkova; Kenta Kimura; Tsuyoshi Kimura; M. H. Berger; Shaojuan Li; Qiaoliang Bao; Xuan P.A. Gao; Ion Errea; Alexey Y. Nikitin; Rainer Hillenbrand; Javier Martín-Sánchez; Pablo Alonso-González

doi:10.1038/s41563-020-0665-0

Broad spectral tuning of ultra-low-loss polaritons in a van der Waals crystal by intercalation

Javier Taboada-Gutiérrez, Gonzalo Álvarez-Pérez, Jiahua Duan, Weiliang Ma, Kyle Crowley, Iván Prieto, Andrei Bylinkin, Marta Autore, Halyna Volkova, Kenta Kimura, Tsuyoshi Kimura, M. H. Berger, Shaojuan Li, Qiaoliang Bao, Xuan P.A. Gao, Ion Errea, Alexey Y. Nikitin, Rainer Hillenbrand, Javier Martín-Sánchez^*, Pablo Alonso-González^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

156 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Phonon polaritons—light coupled to lattice vibrations—in polar van der Waals crystals are promising candidates for controlling the flow of energy on the nanoscale due to their strong field confinement, anisotropic propagation and ultra-long lifetime in the picosecond range^1–5. However, the lack of tunability of their narrow and material-specific spectral range—the Reststrahlen band—severely limits their technological implementation. Here, we demonstrate that intercalation of Na atoms in the van der Waals semiconductor α-V₂O₅ enables a broad spectral shift of Reststrahlen bands, and that the phonon polaritons excited show ultra-low losses (lifetime of 4 ± 1 ps), similar to phonon polaritons in a non-intercalated crystal (lifetime of 6 ± 1 ps). We expect our intercalation method to be applicable to other van der Waals crystals, opening the door for the use of phonon polaritons in broad spectral bands in the mid-infrared domain.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	964-968
Number of pages	5
Journal	Nature Materials
Volume	19
Issue number	9
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-020-0665-0
Publication status	Published - 1 Sept 2020
Externally published	Yes

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Taboada-Gutiérrez, J., Álvarez-Pérez, G., Duan, J., Ma, W., Crowley, K., Prieto, I., Bylinkin, A., Autore, M., Volkova, H., Kimura, K., Kimura, T., Berger, M. H., Li, S., Bao, Q., Gao, X. P. A., Errea, I., Nikitin, A. Y., Hillenbrand, R., Martín-Sánchez, J., & Alonso-González, P. (2020). Broad spectral tuning of ultra-low-loss polaritons in a van der Waals crystal by intercalation. Nature Materials, 19(9), 964-968. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-020-0665-0

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title = "Broad spectral tuning of ultra-low-loss polaritons in a van der Waals crystal by intercalation",

abstract = "Phonon polaritons—light coupled to lattice vibrations—in polar van der Waals crystals are promising candidates for controlling the flow of energy on the nanoscale due to their strong field confinement, anisotropic propagation and ultra-long lifetime in the picosecond range1–5. However, the lack of tunability of their narrow and material-specific spectral range—the Reststrahlen band—severely limits their technological implementation. Here, we demonstrate that intercalation of Na atoms in the van der Waals semiconductor α-V2O5 enables a broad spectral shift of Reststrahlen bands, and that the phonon polaritons excited show ultra-low losses (lifetime of 4 ± 1 ps), similar to phonon polaritons in a non-intercalated crystal (lifetime of 6 ± 1 ps). We expect our intercalation method to be applicable to other van der Waals crystals, opening the door for the use of phonon polaritons in broad spectral bands in the mid-infrared domain.",

author = "Javier Taboada-Guti{\'e}rrez and Gonzalo {\'A}lvarez-P{\'e}rez and Jiahua Duan and Weiliang Ma and Kyle Crowley and Iv{\'a}n Prieto and Andrei Bylinkin and Marta Autore and Halyna Volkova and Kenta Kimura and Tsuyoshi Kimura and Berger, {M. H.} and Shaojuan Li and Qiaoliang Bao and Gao, {Xuan P.A.} and Ion Errea and Nikitin, {Alexey Y.} and Rainer Hillenbrand and Javier Mart{\'i}n-S{\'a}nchez and Pablo Alonso-Gonz{\'a}lez",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2020, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.",

year = "2020",

month = sep,

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doi = "10.1038/s41563-020-0665-0",

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Taboada-Gutiérrez, J, Álvarez-Pérez, G, Duan, J, Ma, W, Crowley, K, Prieto, I, Bylinkin, A, Autore, M, Volkova, H, Kimura, K, Kimura, T, Berger, MH, Li, S, Bao, Q, Gao, XPA, Errea, I, Nikitin, AY, Hillenbrand, R, Martín-Sánchez, J & Alonso-González, P 2020, 'Broad spectral tuning of ultra-low-loss polaritons in a van der Waals crystal by intercalation', Nature Materials, vol. 19, no. 9, pp. 964-968. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-020-0665-0

TY - JOUR

T1 - Broad spectral tuning of ultra-low-loss polaritons in a van der Waals crystal by intercalation

AU - Taboada-Gutiérrez, Javier

AU - Álvarez-Pérez, Gonzalo

AU - Duan, Jiahua

AU - Ma, Weiliang

AU - Crowley, Kyle

AU - Prieto, Iván

AU - Bylinkin, Andrei

AU - Autore, Marta

AU - Volkova, Halyna

AU - Kimura, Kenta

AU - Kimura, Tsuyoshi

AU - Berger, M. H.

AU - Li, Shaojuan

AU - Bao, Qiaoliang

AU - Gao, Xuan P.A.

AU - Errea, Ion

AU - Nikitin, Alexey Y.

AU - Hillenbrand, Rainer

AU - Martín-Sánchez, Javier

AU - Alonso-González, Pablo

PY - 2020/9/1

Y1 - 2020/9/1

N2 - Phonon polaritons—light coupled to lattice vibrations—in polar van der Waals crystals are promising candidates for controlling the flow of energy on the nanoscale due to their strong field confinement, anisotropic propagation and ultra-long lifetime in the picosecond range1–5. However, the lack of tunability of their narrow and material-specific spectral range—the Reststrahlen band—severely limits their technological implementation. Here, we demonstrate that intercalation of Na atoms in the van der Waals semiconductor α-V2O5 enables a broad spectral shift of Reststrahlen bands, and that the phonon polaritons excited show ultra-low losses (lifetime of 4 ± 1 ps), similar to phonon polaritons in a non-intercalated crystal (lifetime of 6 ± 1 ps). We expect our intercalation method to be applicable to other van der Waals crystals, opening the door for the use of phonon polaritons in broad spectral bands in the mid-infrared domain.

AB - Phonon polaritons—light coupled to lattice vibrations—in polar van der Waals crystals are promising candidates for controlling the flow of energy on the nanoscale due to their strong field confinement, anisotropic propagation and ultra-long lifetime in the picosecond range1–5. However, the lack of tunability of their narrow and material-specific spectral range—the Reststrahlen band—severely limits their technological implementation. Here, we demonstrate that intercalation of Na atoms in the van der Waals semiconductor α-V2O5 enables a broad spectral shift of Reststrahlen bands, and that the phonon polaritons excited show ultra-low losses (lifetime of 4 ± 1 ps), similar to phonon polaritons in a non-intercalated crystal (lifetime of 6 ± 1 ps). We expect our intercalation method to be applicable to other van der Waals crystals, opening the door for the use of phonon polaritons in broad spectral bands in the mid-infrared domain.

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DO - 10.1038/s41563-020-0665-0

M3 - Article

C2 - 32284598

AN - SCOPUS:85083806921

SN - 1476-1122

VL - 19

SP - 964

EP - 968

JO - Nature Materials

JF - Nature Materials

IS - 9

ER -

Broad spectral tuning of ultra-low-loss polaritons in a van der Waals crystal by intercalation

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