Structural parameters of hyperbolic metamaterials controlling high-k mode resonant wavelengths

Layered semiconductor hyperbolic metamaterials (HMMs) are composite materials composed of alternating subwavelength-doped (metal) and undoped (dielectric) semiconductor layers. These materials support the propagation of light with large wave vectors through modes called volume plasmon polaritons (VPPs). In this paper, we use finite-element modeling and effective medium analysis (EMA) to investigate how the number of periods, the period thickness, and the overall HMM thickness affect the VPP mode-resonant wavelengths. We show that the overall HMM thickness has a larger impact on shifting the resonant wavelengths of the VPP modes than the subwavelength structure.We also show that the main limitation of EMA for this application is an inability to account for the boundary conditions at the substrate.