Bi-isotropic effects on hybrid surface polaritons in bilayer configurations

TL;DR

This paper explores how bi-isotropic effects influence the formation and tunability of hybrid surface polaritons in bilayer heterostructures, revealing new control mechanisms for light-magnon interactions in topological insulator/antiferromagnet systems.

Contribution

It derives general dispersion relations for surface polaritons considering bi-isotropic effects and demonstrates their impact on hybridization and tunability in TI/AFM heterostructures.

Findings

Redshift of DPPMP dispersion in strong bi-isotropic coupling

Enhanced hybridization with increased Fermi energy

Independent control of light-magnon coupling via Fermi level and bi-isotropic response

Abstract

In this work, we investigate the bi-isotropic effects in the formation and tunability of hybrid surface polaritons in bilayer configurations. We consider a heterostructure composed of a medium with bi-isotropic constitutive relations and an AFM layer. Using the transfer matrix formalism, we derive general expressions for the dispersion relations of surface polaritonic modes, including the dependence on the bi-isotropic parameter, and analyze their coupling to bulk magnon-polaritons. As an illustration of application, we consider a heterostructure formed with Bi$_{2}$Se$_{3}$ interfaced with antiferromagnetic (AFM) materials that support terahertz-frequency magnons, specifically Cr$_{2}$O$_{3}$ and FeF$_{2}$. In the strong bi-isotropic coupling regime, the surface Dirac plasmon--phonon--magnon polariton (DPPMP) dispersion undergoes a pronounced redshift, accompanied by suppression of the characteristic anticrossing between the Dirac plasmon and the phonon. This effect, observed in all AFM materials considered, suggests a weakening of the hybrid interaction, possibly due to saturation or detuning mechanisms induced by increased $\alpha$. Furthermore, increasing the Fermi energy of the topological insulator enhances the surface plasmon and phonon contributions, inducing a blueshift of the DPPP branches and bringing them closer to resonance with the magnon mode, thereby increasing the hybridization strength. Intriguingly, this redshift partially compensates the blueshift induced by a higher Fermi level, restoring the system to a weak-coupling regime analogous to that observed at lower Fermi energies. Our findings reveal that both the Fermi level and the bi-isotropic response offer independent and complementary control parameters for tuning the strength of light--magnon coupling in TI/AFM heterostructures, with potential implications for reconfigurable THz spintronic and photonic devices.