Work

Hyperbolic polaritons in twisted β-Ga2O3

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Hyperbolic polaritons (HPs) are essential for integrated photonics due to their directional propagation and strong field confinement. While most research focuses on in-plane light behavior, the out-of-plane features of HPs remain underexplored. In this work, we theoretically predict a novel light coupling mechanism in twisted β-Ga 2 O 3 bilayers, involving both surface and volume HPs. As the twist angle increases, the polaritons merge, transitioning from a “four-wing” to a “two-wing” state, accompanied by changes in the iso-frequency contours (IFCs). This shift in dispersion and field distribution results from the interaction between surface and volume HPs, wherein they exchange energy and modify their vertical locality. We also introduce a method for analyzing mode interactions via wavevector collinearity. Our work extends twistronics to control the vertical locality of polaritons, enabling new possibilities for sub-wavelength light manipulation with applications in super-resolution imaging, nanophotonics, and compact photonic devices.

Source: npj Nanophotonics

DOI: 10.1038/s44310-025-00053-w

Authors: Yuan Zheng, Yali Zeng, Yidan Hu, Lu Liu, Zhigao Dai, Huanyang Chen

Institutions: Xiamen University, Northwestern Polytechnical University, China University of Geosciences

Language: English

Topic: Plasmonic and Surface Plasmon Research

Subfield: Biomedical Engineering

Field: Engineering

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,090

Funders: National Natural Science Foundation of China, National Key Research and Development Program of China, Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities