Planar refraction and lensing of highly confined polaritons in anisotropic media

J. Duan, G. Álvarez-Pérez, A. I. F. Tresguerres-Mata, J. Taboada-Gutiérrez, K. V. Voronin, A. Bylinkin, B. Chang, S. Xiao, S. Liu, J. H. Edgar, J. I. Martín, V. S. Volkov, R. Hillenbrand, J. Martín-Sánchez, A. Y. Nikitin and P. Alonso-González ()
Additional contact information
J. Duan: University of Oviedo
G. Álvarez-Pérez: University of Oviedo
A. I. F. Tresguerres-Mata: University of Oviedo
J. Taboada-Gutiérrez: University of Oviedo
K. V. Voronin: Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology
A. Bylinkin: CIC nanoGUNE BRTA
B. Chang: Technical University of Denmark
S. Xiao: Technical University of Denmark
S. Liu: Kansas State University
J. H. Edgar: Kansas State University
J. I. Martín: University of Oviedo
V. S. Volkov: Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology
R. Hillenbrand: Basque Foundation for Science
J. Martín-Sánchez: University of Oviedo
A. Y. Nikitin: Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC)
P. Alonso-González: University of Oviedo

Nature Communications, 2021, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract Refraction between isotropic media is characterized by light bending towards the normal to the boundary when passing from a low- to a high-refractive-index medium. However, refraction between anisotropic media is a more exotic phenomenon which remains barely investigated, particularly at the nanoscale. Here, we visualize and comprehensively study the general case of refraction of electromagnetic waves between two strongly anisotropic (hyperbolic) media, and we do it with the use of nanoscale-confined polaritons in a natural medium: α-MoO3. The refracted polaritons exhibit non-intuitive directions of propagation as they traverse planar nanoprisms, enabling to unveil an exotic optical effect: bending-free refraction. Furthermore, we develop an in-plane refractive hyperlens, yielding foci as small as λp/6, being λp the polariton wavelength (λ0/50 compared to the wavelength of free-space light). Our results set the grounds for planar nano-optics in strongly anisotropic media, with potential for effective control of the flow of energy at the nanoscale.

Date: 2021
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-24599-3

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