Loading...
News Article

Trapped light orbits within h-BN

US team finds 'hot spots' of enhanced electrical fields emerge at specific frequencies

Patterns of orbiting light predicted for spheroids of hexagonal BN  illuminated with a dipole source just above their north poles. These are false-colour plots of predicted hot spots of enhanced electrical fields. Magenta lines trace the periodic orbits on the surfaces set up by particular frequencies.


Last year a team led by University of California, San Diego, physics professor Michael Fogler found that light could be stored within nanoscale granules of hexagonal BN. Now Fogler's research group has published a new paper in the journal Nano Letters that elaborates how this trapped light behaves inside the granules.

The particles of light, called phonon polaritons, disobey standard laws of reflection as they bounce through the granules, but their movement isn't random. Polariton rays propagate along paths at fixed angles with respect to the atomic structure of the material, Folger's team reports. That can lead to interesting resonances.

"The trajectories of the trapped polariton rays are very convoluted in most instances," Fogler said. "However, at certain 'magic' frequencies they can become simple closed orbits."

When that happens "˜hot spots' of strongly enhanced electrical fields can emerge. Fogler's group found those can form elaborate geometric patterns in granules of spheroidal shape.

The polaritons are not only particles but also waves that form interference patterns. When overlaid on the hot contours of enhanced electrical fields, these create strikingly beautiful images.

"They resemble Fabergé eggs, the gem-encrusted treasures of the Russian tsars," Fogler observed.

Beyond creating beautiful images, their analysis illustrates the way light is stored inside the material. The patterns and the magic frequencies are determined not by the size of the spheroid but its shape, that is, the ratio of its girth to length. The analysis revealed that a single parameter determines the fixed angle along which polariton rays propagate with respect to the surface of the spheroids.

Scientists are beginning to find practical uses for materials such as hexagonal BN that manipulate light in usual ways. The theory this work informed could guide the development of applications such as nanoresonators for high-resolution colour filtering and spectral imaging, hyperlenses for subdiffractional imaging, or infrared photon sources.

Fogler and colleagues suggest several experiments that could confirm their prediction of orbiting light using advanced optical techniques, some of which are underway, Fogler said. "The experimental quest to detect orbiting polaritons has already begun."

 

New efficiency record for CIGS perovskite tandem cells
Realising tuneable InGaN laser diodes
SiC patenting strong in Q4 2024, says KnowMade
Say hello to the heterogeneous revolution
Double heterostructure HEMTs for handsets
AlixLabs to collaborate with Linköping University
Multiple materials vie for RF success
SiC MOSFETs: Understanding the benefits of plasma nitridation
Wolfspeed reports Q2 results
VueReal secures $40.5m to scale MicroSolid printing
Mitsubishi joins Horizon Europe's FLAGCHIP project
Vishay launches new high voltage SiC diodes
UK team leads diamond-FET breakthrough
GaN adoption at tipping point, says Infineon
BluGlass files tuneable GaN laser patents
QD company Quantum Science expands into new facility
Innoscience files lawsuit against Infineon
Riber revenues up 5% to €41.2m
Forvia Hella to use CoolSiC for next generation charging
Photon Design to exhibit QD simulation tool
Ortel transfers CW laser fabrication to Canada
Luminus adds red and blue multi-mode Lasers
PseudolithIC raises $6M for heterogeneous chiplet tech
Mesa sidewall design improves HV DUV LEDs
IQE revenue to exceed expectations
'Game-changing' VCSEL system targets clinical imaging
German start-up secures finance for SiC processing tech
Macom signs preliminaries for CHIPS Act funding
IQE and Quintessent partner on QD lasers for AI
EU funds perovskite tandems for fuel-free space propulsion
EU to invest €3m in GeSi quantum project
Transforming the current density of AlN Schottky barrier diodes
×
Search the news archive

To close this popup you can press escape or click the close icon.
Logo
x
Logo
×
Register - Step 1

You may choose to subscribe to the Compound Semiconductor Magazine, the Compound Semiconductor Newsletter, or both. You may also request additional information if required, before submitting your application.


Please subscribe me to:

 

You chose the industry type of "Other"

Please enter the industry that you work in:
Please enter the industry that you work in: