Broad Spectral Tuning of Ultra-Low Loss Polaritons in a van der Waals Crystal by Intercalation

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that intercalating Na atoms into a van der Waals crystal broadens the spectral range of phonon polaritons while maintaining ultra-low losses, enhancing their potential for nanoscale energy control.

Contribution

The study introduces a novel intercalation technique to tune the spectral range of phonon polaritons in vdW crystals without increasing losses.

Findings

Na intercalation broadens the Reststrahlen Band in $eta$-V$_2$O$_5$

PhPs exhibit ultra-low losses with a lifetime of 4 ps

Method is potentially applicable to other vdW materials

Abstract

Phonon polaritons (PhPs) -- light coupled to lattice vibrations -- in polar van der Waals (vdW) crystals are promising candidates for controlling the flow of energy at the nanoscale due to their strong field confinement, anisotropic propagation, and ultra-long lifetime in the picosecond range \cite{ref1,ref2,ref3,ref4,ref5}. However, the lack of tunability in their narrow and material-specific spectral range -- the Reststrahlen Band (RB) -- severely limits their technological implementation. Here, we demonstrate that the intercalation of Na atoms in the vdW semiconductor $\alpha$-V$_2$O$_5$ enables a broad spectral shift of RBs, and that the PhPs excited exhibit ultra-low losses (lifetime of $4 \pm 1$~ps), similar to PhPs in the non-intercalated crystal (lifetime of $6 \pm 1$ ps). We expect our intercalation method to be applicable to other vdW crystals, opening the door for the use of PhPs in broad spectral bands in the mid-infrared domain.