Microcavity phonon polaritons from the weak to the ultrastrong phonon–photon coupling regime

[EN]Strong coupling between light and matter can be engineered to influence their properties and behaviour. Here, the authors demonstrate the evolution from weak to ultrastrong coupling of microcavity modes and optical phonons with hexagonal boron nitride layers in a Fabry-Perot resonator. Strong co...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Barra Burillo, María, Muniain, Unai, Catalano, Sara, Autore, Marta, Casanova Fernández, Félix, Hueso Arroyo, Luis Eduardo, Aizpurua Iriazabal, Francisco Javier, Esteban Llorente, Rubén, Hillenbrand, Rainer
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2021
País:España
Institución:Universidad del País Vasco
Repositorio:Addi. Archivo Digital para la Docencia y la Investigación
OAI Identifier:oai:addi.ehu.eus:10810/54256
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10810/54256
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Bose-Einstein condensation
atoms
Descripción
Sumario:[EN]Strong coupling between light and matter can be engineered to influence their properties and behaviour. Here, the authors demonstrate the evolution from weak to ultrastrong coupling of microcavity modes and optical phonons with hexagonal boron nitride layers in a Fabry-Perot resonator. Strong coupling between molecular vibrations and microcavity modes has been demonstrated to modify physical and chemical properties of the molecular material. Here, we study the less explored coupling between lattice vibrations (phonons) and microcavity modes. Embedding thin layers of hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) into classical microcavities, we demonstrate the evolution from weak to ultrastrong phonon-photon coupling when the hBN thickness is increased from a few nanometers to a fully filled cavity. Remarkably, strong coupling is achieved for hBN layers as thin as 10 nm. Further, the ultrastrong coupling in fully filled cavities yields a polariton dispersion matching that of phonon polaritons in bulk hBN, highlighting that the maximum light-matter coupling in microcavities is limited to the coupling strength between photons and the bulk material. Tunable cavity phonon polaritons could become a versatile platform for studying how the coupling strength between photons and phonons may modify the properties of polar crystals.