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Title: Real-space nanoimaging of THz polaritons in the topological insulator Bi2Se3

Abstract

Plasmon polaritons in topological insulators attract attention from a fundamental perspective and for potential THz photonic applications. Although polaritons have been observed by THz far-field spectroscopy on topological insulator microstructures, real-space imaging of propagating THz polaritons has been elusive so far. Here, we show spectroscopic THz near-field images of thin Bi2Se3 layers (prototypical topological insulators) revealing polaritons with up to 12 times increased momenta as compared to photons of the same energy and decay times of about 0.48 ps, yet short propagation lengths. From the images we determine and analyze the polariton dispersion, showing that the polaritons can be explained by the coupling of THz radiation to various combinations of Dirac and massive carriers at the Bi2Se3 surfaces, massive bulk carriers and optical phonons. Our work provides critical insights into the nature of THz polaritons in topological insulators and establishes instrumentation and methodology for imaging of THz polaritons.

Authors:
 [1]; ORCiD logo [2];  [3]; ORCiD logo [4];  [3]; ORCiD logo [5]; ORCiD logo [6]; ORCiD logo [3]; ORCiD logo [7]
+ Show Author Affiliations
  1. CIC nanoGUNE BRTA, Donostia - San Sebastián (Spain)
  2. CIC nanoGUNE BRTA, Donostia - San Sebastián (Spain); Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC), Donostia - San Sebastián (Spain)
  3. Univ. of Delaware, Newark, DE (United States)
  4. CIC nanoGUNE BRTA, Donostia - San Sebastián (Spain); IKERBASQUE, Bilbao (Spain)
  5. Huazhong Univ. of Science and Technology, Wuhan (China)
  6. Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC), Donostia - San Sebastián (Spain); IKERBASQUE, Bilbao (Spain)
  7. IKERBASQUE, Bilbao (Spain); CIC nanoGUNE BRTA and Department of Electricity and Electronics, Donostia-San Sebastián (Spain)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Univ. of Delaware, Newark, DE (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Materials Sciences & Engineering Division; National Science Foundation Major Research Instrumentation
OSTI Identifier:
1960367
Grant/Contract Number:  
SC0017801; 1828141
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Nature Communications
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 13; Journal Issue: 1; Journal ID: ISSN 2041-1723
Publisher:
Nature Publishing Group
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; Nanophotonics and plasmonics; Polaritons; Topological insulators

Citation Formats

Chen, Shu, Bylinkin, Andrei, Wang, Zhengtianye, Schnell, Martin, Chandan, Greeshma, Li, Peining, Nikitin, Alexey Y., Law, Stephanie, and Hillenbrand, Rainer. Real-space nanoimaging of THz polaritons in the topological insulator Bi2Se3. United States: N. p., 2022. Web. doi:10.1038/s41467-022-28791-x.
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Chen, Shu, Bylinkin, Andrei, Wang, Zhengtianye, Schnell, Martin, Chandan, Greeshma, Li, Peining, Nikitin, Alexey Y., Law, Stephanie, & Hillenbrand, Rainer. Real-space nanoimaging of THz polaritons in the topological insulator Bi2Se3. United States. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-28791-x
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Chen, Shu, Bylinkin, Andrei, Wang, Zhengtianye, Schnell, Martin, Chandan, Greeshma, Li, Peining, Nikitin, Alexey Y., Law, Stephanie, and Hillenbrand, Rainer. Wed . "Real-space nanoimaging of THz polaritons in the topological insulator Bi2Se3". United States. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-28791-x. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1960367.
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@article{osti_1960367,
title = {Real-space nanoimaging of THz polaritons in the topological insulator Bi2Se3},
author = {Chen, Shu and Bylinkin, Andrei and Wang, Zhengtianye and Schnell, Martin and Chandan, Greeshma and Li, Peining and Nikitin, Alexey Y. and Law, Stephanie and Hillenbrand, Rainer},
abstractNote = {Plasmon polaritons in topological insulators attract attention from a fundamental perspective and for potential THz photonic applications. Although polaritons have been observed by THz far-field spectroscopy on topological insulator microstructures, real-space imaging of propagating THz polaritons has been elusive so far. Here, we show spectroscopic THz near-field images of thin Bi2Se3 layers (prototypical topological insulators) revealing polaritons with up to 12 times increased momenta as compared to photons of the same energy and decay times of about 0.48 ps, yet short propagation lengths. From the images we determine and analyze the polariton dispersion, showing that the polaritons can be explained by the coupling of THz radiation to various combinations of Dirac and massive carriers at the Bi2Se3 surfaces, massive bulk carriers and optical phonons. Our work provides critical insights into the nature of THz polaritons in topological insulators and establishes instrumentation and methodology for imaging of THz polaritons.},
doi = {10.1038/s41467-022-28791-x},
journal = {Nature Communications},
number = 1,
volume = 13,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed Mar 16 00:00:00 EDT 2022},
month = {Wed Mar 16 00:00:00 EDT 2022}
}
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https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-28791-x
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