Hyperbolic Shear Metasurfaces

TL;DR

This paper introduces hyperbolic shear metasurfaces, ultrathin engineered surfaces supporting highly confined, low-loss hyperbolic surface modes with enhanced light-matter interactions across broad spectra.

Contribution

It presents the design and demonstration of hyperbolic shear metasurfaces that enable geometry-controlled, ultra-confined, broadband hyperbolic surface waves with tailored dispersion and loss properties.

Findings

Demonstrated ultra-confined hyperbolic surface waves

Achieved broadband Purcell enhancements

Engineered effective shear phenomena in metasurfaces

Abstract

Polar dielectrics with low crystal symmetry and sharp phonon resonances can support hyperbolic shear polaritons - highly confined surface modes with frequency-dependent optical axes and asymmetric dissipation features. So far, these modes have been observed only in bulk natural materials at mid-infrared frequencies, with properties limited by available crystal geometries and phonon resonance strength. Here we introduce hyperbolic shear metasurfaces: ultrathin engineered surfaces supporting hyperbolic surface modes with symmetry-tailored axial dispersion and loss redistribution that can maximally enhance light-matter interactions. By engineering effective shear phenomena in these engineered surfaces, we demonstrate geometry-controlled, ultra-confined, low-loss hyperbolic surface waves with broadband Purcell enhancements, applicable across a broad range of the electromagnetic spectrum.