Mapping propagation of collective modes in Bi2Se3 and Bi2Te2.2Se0.8 topological insulators by near-field terahertz nanoscopy

Eva Arianna Aurelia Pogna (), Leonardo Viti, Antonio Politano, Massimo Brambilla, Gaetano Scamarcio and Miriam Serena Vitiello ()
Additional contact information
Eva Arianna Aurelia Pogna: NEST, CNR-Istituto Nanoscienze and Scuola Normale Superiore
Leonardo Viti: NEST, CNR-Istituto Nanoscienze and Scuola Normale Superiore
Antonio Politano: University of L’Aquila
Massimo Brambilla: Università degli Studi e Politecnico di Bari, and CNR-Istituto di Fotonica e Nanotecnologie
Gaetano Scamarcio: Università degli Studi e Politecnico di Bari, and CNR-Istituto di Fotonica e Nanotecnologie
Miriam Serena Vitiello: NEST, CNR-Istituto Nanoscienze and Scuola Normale Superiore

Nature Communications, 2021, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-11

Abstract: Abstract Near-field microscopy discloses a peculiar potential to explore novel quantum state of matter at the nanoscale, providing an intriguing playground to investigate, locally, carrier dynamics or propagation of photoexcited modes as plasmons, phonons, plasmon-polaritons or phonon-polaritons. Here, we exploit a combination of hyperspectral time domain spectroscopy nano-imaging and detectorless scattering near-field optical microscopy, at multiple terahertz frequencies, to explore the rich physics of layered topological insulators as Bi2Se3 and Bi2Te2.2Se0.8, hyperbolic materials with topologically protected surface states. By mapping the near-field scattering signal from a set of thin flakes of Bi2Se3 and Bi2Te2.2Se0.8 of various thicknesses, we shed light on the nature of the collective modes dominating their optical response in the 2-3 THz range. We capture snapshots of the activation of transverse and longitudinal optical phonons and reveal the propagation of sub-diffractional hyperbolic phonon-polariton modes influenced by the Dirac plasmons arising from the topological surface states and of bulk plasmons, prospecting new research directions in plasmonics, tailored nanophotonics, spintronics and quantum technologies.

Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-26831-6 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:12:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-021-26831-6

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-26831-6

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().