Terahertz Dirac Hyperbolic Metamaterial

Zhengtianye Wang, Saadia Nasir, Sathwik Bharadwaj, Yongchen Liu, Sivakumar Vishnuvardhan Mambakkam, Mingyu Yu, Stephanie Law

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Hyperbolic metamaterials (HMMs) are engineered materials with a hyperbolic isofrequency surface, enabling a range of interesting phenomena and applications including negative refraction, enhanced sensing, and subdiffraction imaging, focusing, and waveguiding. Existing HMMs primarily work in the visible and infrared spectral range due to the inherent properties of their constituent materials. Here, we demonstrate a THz-range Dirac HMM using topological insulators as the building blocks. We find that the structure houses up to three high-wavevector volume plasmon polariton (VPP) modes, consistent with transfer matrix modeling and effective medium theory calculations. The VPPs have mode indices greater than 100, significantly larger than observed for VPP modes in HMMs made from metals or doped semiconductors while maintaining comparable quality factors. We attribute these properties to the two-dimensional Dirac nature of the electrons occupying the topological insulator surface states. Because these are van der Waals materials, these structures can be grown at a wafer-scale on a variety of substrates, allowing them to be integrated with existing THz structures and enabling next-generation THz optical devices.

Original languageEnglish (US)
JournalACS Photonics
DOIs
StateAccepted/In press - 2024

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
  • Biotechnology
  • Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

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