Journal article
Dispersion-Engineered Surface Phonon Polariton Metasurfaces for Tunable and Efficient Polarization Conversion
Nano letters, Vol.25(33), pp.12554-12561
08/11/2025
DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.5c02708
PMCID: PMC12371866
PMID: 40788295
Appears in UI Libraries Support Open Access
Abstract
Metasurfaces offer compact control of light polarization, which is vital for imaging, sensing, and communications. However, cost-effective efficient polarization conversion in the mid-infrared (IR) remains challenging due to reliance on high-resolution lithography. We demonstrate that dispersion engineering of surface phonon polariton (SPhP) metasurfaces overcomes these limitations, enabling efficient and tunable polarization conversion in the mid-IR. By integrating a dielectric layer with the SiC-based metasurface, we control hybrid SPhP and SPhP-like waveguide resonances, achieving up to 61% experimental and 82% simulated conversion efficiency across the Reststrahlen band. Our design avoids SiC etching, enhancing compatibility with hard-to-etch materials. Bandwidth tunability is achieved by varying the grating pitch, with full width at half-maximum ranging from 146.82 to 52.2 cm
(∼15% to 5% of design frequency), enabling versatile applications ranging from broadband spectroscopy to narrow band thermal sensing. This platform is transferable to other SPhP materials, offering new avenues for reflective polarizers in the mid-IR and terahertz ranges.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Dispersion-Engineered Surface Phonon Polariton Metasurfaces for Tunable and Efficient Polarization Conversion
- Creators
- Raghunandan B Iyer - University of Iowa, Physics and AstronomySang Hyun Park - University of Minnesota SystemRamachandra Bangari - University of IowaS Maryam Vaghefi Esfidani - Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52245 United StatesTony Low - University of Minnesota SystemThomas G Folland - University of Iowa
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Nano letters, Vol.25(33), pp.12554-12561
- DOI
- 10.1021/acs.nanolett.5c02708
- PMID
- 40788295
- PMCID
- PMC12371866
- NLM abbreviation
- Nano Lett
- ISSN
- 1530-6984
- eISSN
- 1530-6992
- Publisher
- American Chemical Society; WASHINGTON
- Copyright
- Copyright © 2025 The Authors
- Grant note
- Office of Naval ResearchUniversity of Iowa College of Liberal Arts and SciencesUniversity of Iowa Department of Physics and AstronomyMulti-University Research Initiative (MURI) on Twist-Optics: N00014-23-1-2567 Office of Naval ResearchNational Science Foundation
T.G.F. and R.B.I. acknowledge support from the University of Iowa College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the University of Iowa Department of Physics and Astronomy. T.G.F., R.B.I., and T.L. further acknowledge funding support from the Multi-University Research Initiative (MURI) on Twist-Optics, sponsored by the Office of Naval Research under Grant No. N00014-23-1-2567. Portions of this work were carried out at the Materials Analysis, Testing, and Fabrication (MATFab) Facility. Parts of the work were also conducted at the Minnesota Nano Center (MNC), a facility supported by the National Science Foundation through the National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure (NNCI).
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 08/11/2025
- Academic Unit
- Physics and Astronomy
- Record Identifier
- 9984946699602771
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