# Disordered Zero-Index Metamaterials Based On Metal Induced Crystallization

## TL;DR

This paper presents a novel method using metal-induced crystallization in disordered metal-semiconductor composites to create large-area zero-index metamaterials with tunable optical properties, enabling potential wafer-scale applications.

## Contribution

It introduces a new fabrication approach for zero-index materials utilizing metal-induced crystallization in disordered systems, demonstrating control over light interaction and transmission enhancement.

## Key findings

- Crystallization at metal/semiconductor interfaces controls zero-index states.
- Hybridized plasmonic modes emerge from crystalline shells.
- Photonic doping enhances transmission in disordered metamaterials.

## Abstract

Zero-index (ZI) materials are synthetic optical materials with vanishing effective permittivity and/or permeability at a given design frequency. Recently, it has been shown that the permeability of a zero-index host material can be deterministically tuned by adding photonic dopants. Here, we apply metal-induced crystallization (MIC) in quasi-random metal-semiconductor composites to fabricate large-area zero-index materials. Using Ag-Si as a model systems, we demonstrate that the localized crystallization of the semiconductor at the metal/semiconductor interface can be used as design parameter to control light interaction in such a disordered system. The induced crystallization generates new zero-index states corresponding to a hybridized plasmonic mode emerging from selective coupling of light to the \r{a}ngstr\"om-sized crystalline shell of the semiconductor. Photonic doping can be used to enhance the transmission in these disordered metamaterials as is shown by simulation. Our results break ground for novel large-area zero-index materials for wafer scale applications and beyond.