High-Q, size-independent, and reconfigurable optical antennas via zero-index material dispersion engineering

TL;DR

Embedding Mie resonators in epsilon near zero (ENZ) media significantly enhances their Q-factors, reduces fabrication challenges, and enables dynamic reconfigurability, advancing high-performance, scalable nanophotonic devices.

Contribution

This work introduces a novel approach of embedding Mie resonators within ENZ media to achieve high-Q, size-independent, and reconfigurable optical antennas, overcoming previous limitations.

Findings

Q-factors exceeding 100 in AlN-based resonators

Negligible geometric dispersion across sizes 800 nm to 2800 nm

Thermal tuning enables mid-infrared reconfigurability over 2 μm range

Abstract

Enhancing light-matter interactions at the nanoscale is foundational to nanophotonics, with epsilon near zero (ENZ) materials demonstrating significant potential.High-quality (Q) factor resonances maximizing these interactions are typically realized in photonic crystals requiring sub-50 nm precision nanofabrication over large areas, limiting scalability and increasing complexity. Mie resonances offer an alternative but are constrained by low Q factors due to the scarcity of high refractive index materials, necessitating large refractive index changes for effective resonance switching and limiting dynamic reconfigurability. We overcome these limitations by embedding Mie resonators within ENZ media, thereby enhancing Q- factors, mitigating geometric dispersion and fabrication challenges, and maximizing optical reconfigurability. We introduce three resonator-ENZ configurations - voids in AlN, Ge in $SiO_2$, and intrinsic InSb in doped InSb - spanning from low-loss phononic to lossy plasmonic ENZ modes.Using novel epitaxial regrowth techniques, we achieve significant Q-factor improvements over non-embedded resonators. Notably, an air-based Mie resonator embedded in AlN supports resonant Q-factors exceeding 100, with negligible geometric dispersion across sizes from 800 nm to 2,800 nm. Additionally, we demonstrate dynamic reconfigurability of intrinsic InSb resonators by thermally tuning the ENZ wavelength over a 2$\mu$m range in the mid-infrared (11-16 $\mu$m) wavelength regime. These results showcase the potential of Mie resonators embedded in ENZ media for high-fidelity sensors, thermal emitters, and reconfigurable metasurfaces, bridging theoretical predictions with practical applications, advancing the development of dynamic, high-Q optical devices.