Polaritonic states trapped by topological defects

Autor: Daria Smirnova, Filipp Komissarenko, Anton Vakulenko, Svetlana Kiriushechkina, Ekaterina Smolina, Sriram Guddala, Monica Allen, Jeffery Allen, Andrea Alù, Alexander B. Khanikaev
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2024
Předmět:
Zdroj: Nature Communications, Vol 15, Iss 1, Pp 1-8 (2024)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 2041-1723
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-50666-6
Popis: Abstract The miniaturization of photonic technologies calls for a deliberate integration of diverse materials to enable novel functionalities in chip-scale devices. Topological photonic systems are a promising platform to couple structured light with solid-state matter excitations and establish robust forms of 1D polaritonic transport. Here, we demonstrate a mechanism to efficiently trap mid-IR structured phonon-polaritons in topological defects of a metasurface integrated with hexagonal boron nitride (hBN). These defects, created by stitching displaced domains of a Kekulé-patterned metasurface, sustain localized polaritonic modes that originate from coupling of electromagnetic fields with hBN lattice vibrations. These 0D higher-order topological modes, comprising phononic and photonic components with chiral polarization, are imaged in real- and Fourier-space. The results reveal a singular radiation leakage profile and selective excitation through spin-polarized edge waves at heterogeneous topological interfaces. This offers impactful opportunities to control light-matter waves in their dimensional hierarchy, paving the way for topological polariton shaping, ultrathin structured light sources, and thermal management at the nanoscale.
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