Publication detail

Real-space observation of ultraconfined in-plane anisotropic acoustic terahertz plasmon polaritons

Chen, S. Leng, PL. Konecná, A. Modin, E. Gutierrez-Amigo, M. Vicentini, E. Martín-García, B. Barra-Burillo, M. Niehues I. Escudero, CM. Xie, XY. Hueso, LE. Artacho, E. Aizpurua, J. Errea, I. Vergniory, MG. Chuvilin, A. Xiu, FX. Hillenbrand, R.

Original Title

Real-space observation of ultraconfined in-plane anisotropic acoustic terahertz plasmon polaritons

Type

journal article in Web of Science

Language

English

Original Abstract

Thin layers of in-plane anisotropic materials can support ultraconfined polaritons, whose wavelengths depend on the propagation direction. Such polaritons hold potential for the exploration of fundamental material properties and the development of novel nanophotonic devices. However, the real-space observation of ultraconfined in-plane anisotropic plasmon polaritons (PPs)-which exist in much broader spectral ranges than phonon polaritons-has been elusive. Here we apply terahertz nanoscopy to image in-plane anisotropic low-energy PPs in monoclinic Ag2Te platelets. The hybridization of the PPs with their mirror image-by placing the platelets above a Au layer-increases the direction-dependent relative polariton propagation length and the directional polariton confinement. This allows for verifying a linear dispersion and elliptical isofrequency contour in momentum space, revealing in-plane anisotropic acoustic terahertz PPs. Our work shows high-symmetry (elliptical) polaritons on low-symmetry (monoclinic) crystals and demonstrates the use of terahertz PPs for local measurements of anisotropic charge carrier masses and damping. Employing terahertz nanoscopy, we image highly confined, in-plane anisotropic acoustic terahertz plasmon polaritons in monoclinic Ag2Te platelets placed above a Au layer, verifying a linear dispersion and elliptical isofrequency contour in momentum space.

Keywords

THZ, crystals

Authors

Chen, S.; Leng, PL.; Konecná, A.; Modin, E.; Gutierrez-Amigo, M.; Vicentini, E.; Martín-García, B.; Barra-Burillo, M.; Niehues I.; Escudero, CM.; Xie, XY.; Hueso, LE.; Artacho, E.; Aizpurua, J.; Errea, I.; Vergniory, MG.; Chuvilin, A.; Xiu, FX.; Hillenbrand, R.

Released

1. 7. 2023

Publisher

NATURE PORTFOLIO

Location

BERLIN

ISBN

1476-4660

Periodical

Nature Materials

Year of study

22

Number

7

State

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Pages count

9

URL

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41563-023-01547-8

BibTex

@article{BUT185396,
  author="Chen, S. and Leng, PL. and Konecná, A. and Modin, E. and Gutierrez-Amigo, M. and Vicentini, E. and Martín-García, B. and Barra-Burillo, M. and Niehues I. and Escudero, CM. and Xie, XY. and Hueso, LE. and Artacho, E. and Aizpurua, J. and Errea, I. and Vergniory, MG. and Chuvilin, A. and Xiu, FX. and Hillenbrand, R.",
  title="Real-space observation of ultraconfined in-plane anisotropic acoustic terahertz plasmon polaritons",
  journal="Nature Materials",
  year="2023",
  volume="22",
  number="7",
  pages="9",
  doi="10.1038/s41563-023-01547-8",
  issn="1476-4660",
  url="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41563-023-01547-8"
}