Title: Ultralight Angstrom-Scale Optimal Optical Reflectors

Abstract

High reflectance in many state-of-the-art optical devices is achieved with noble metals. However, metals are limited by losses and, for certain applications, by their high mass density. Using a combination of ab initio and optical transfer matrix calculations, we evaluate the behavior of graphene-based angstrom-scale metamaterials and find that they could act as nearly perfect reflectors in the mid–long-wave infrared (IR) range. The low density of states for electron–phonon scattering and interband excitations leads to unprecedented optical properties for graphene heterostructures, especially alternating atomic layers of graphene and hexagonal boron nitride, at wavelengths greater than 10 μm. At these wavelengths, these materials exhibit reflectivities exceeding 99.7% at a fraction of the weight of noble metals, as well as plasmonic mode confinement and quality factors that are greater by an order of magnitude compared to noble metals. These findings hold promise for ultracompact optical components and waveguides for mid-IR applications. Moreover, unlike metals, the photonic properties of these heterostructures could be actively tuned via chemical and/or electrostatic doping, providing exciting possibilities for tunable devices.

Authors:

Papadakis, Georgia T. ^[1]; Narang, Prineha  ^[2];

• Search DOE PAGES for author "Narang, Prineha"
• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0003-3956-4594"

Sundararaman, Ravishankar  ^[3];

• Search DOE PAGES for author "Sundararaman, Ravishankar"
• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0002-0625-4592"

Rivera, Nicholas  ^[4];

• Search DOE PAGES for author "Rivera, Nicholas"
• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0002-8298-1468"

Buljan, Hrvoje ^[5]; Engheta, Nader ^[6]; Soljačić, Marin ^[4]

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+ Show Author Affiliations

1. California Inst. of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States). Dept. of Applied Physics and Materials Science
2. Harvard Univ., Cambridge, MA (United States). John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
3. Rensselaer Polytechnic Inst., Troy, NY (United States). Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering
4. Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States). Dept. of Physics
5. Univ. of Zagreb (Croatia). Dept. of Physics. Faculty of Science
6. Univ. of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA (United States). School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

Publication Date:

Wed Oct 11 00:00:00 EDT 2017

Research Org.:

Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC)

Sponsoring Org.:

USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)

OSTI Identifier:

1470499

Alternate Identifier(s):

OSTI ID: 1488928

Grant/Contract Number:  

SC0001299; AC02-05CH11231

Resource Type:

Accepted Manuscript

Journal Name:

ACS Photonics

Additional Journal Information:

Journal Volume: 5; Journal Issue: 2; Journal ID: ISSN 2330-4022

Publisher:

American Chemical Society (ACS)

Country of Publication:

United States

Language:

English

Subject:

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; 71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSICS; 2D heterotructures; perfect electric conductors; surface plasmons; plasmonic waveguides