Electroluminescence and energy transfer mediated by hyperbolic polaritons

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Abou-Hamdan, Loubnan; Schmitt, Aurelien; Bretel, Remi; Rossetti, Sylvio; Tharrault, Marin; Mele, David; Pierret, Aurelie; Rosticher, Michael; Taniguchi, Takashi; Watanabe, Kenji; Maestre, Camille; Journet, Catherine; Toury, Berangere; Garnier, Vincent; Steyer, Philippe; Edgar, James H.; Janzen, Eli; Berroir, Jean-Marc; Feve, Gwendal; Menard, Gerbold; Placais, Bernard; Voisin, Christophe; Hugonin, Jean-Paul; Bailly, Elise; Vest, Benjamin; Greffet, Jean-Jacques; Bouchon, Patrick; De Wilde, Yannick; Baudin, Emmanuel
• 署名单位: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS); Universite Paris Cite; Universite PSL; Ecole Superieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles de la Ville de Paris (ESPCI); Universite Paris Saclay; National Office for Aerospace Studies & Research (ONERA); Universite PSL; Ecole Normale Superieure (ENS); Sorbonne Universite; Universite Paris Cite; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS); Universite de Lille; Centrale Lille; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS); CNRS - Institute for Engineering & Systems Sciences (INSIS); Universite Polytechnique Hauts-de-France; National Institute for Materials Science; Universite Claude Bernard Lyon 1; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS); CNRS - Institute of Chemistry (INC); Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS); CNRS - Institute for Engineering & Systems Sciences (INSIS); Universite Claude Bernard Lyon 1; Institut National des Sciences Appliquees de Lyon - INSA Lyon; Kansas State University; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS); Institut Polytechnique de Paris; Ecole Polytechnique; Universite Paris Saclay; Institut Universitaire de France
• 刊物名称: Nature
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0028-2759
• DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-08627-6
• 发表日期: 2025-03-27
• 关键词: hexagonal boron-nitride; phonon polaritons; crystals; graphene

摘要

Under high electrical current, some materials can emit electromagnetic radiation beyond incandescence. This phenomenon, referred to as electroluminescence, leads to the efficient emission of visible photons and is the basis of domestic lighting devices (for example, light-emitting diodes)1,2. In principle, electroluminescence can lead to mid-infrared emission of confined light-matter excitations called phonon polaritons3,4, resulting from the coupling of photons with crystal lattice vibrations (optical phonons). In particular, phonon polaritons arising in the van der Waals crystal hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) present hyperbolic dispersion, which enhances light-matter coupling5,6. For this reason, electroluminescence of hyperbolic phonon polaritons (HPhPs) has been proposed as an explanation for the peculiar radiative energy transfer within hBN-encapsulated graphene transistors7,8. However, as HPhPs are locally confined, they are inaccessible in the far field, and as such, any hint of electroluminescence has been based on indirect electronic signatures and has yet to be confirmed by direct observation. Here we demonstrate far-field mid-infrared (wavelength approximately 6.5 mu m) electroluminescence of HPhPs excited by strongly biased high-mobility graphene within a van der Waals heterostructure, and we quantify the associated radiative energy transfer through the material. The presence of HPhPs is revealed by far-field mid-infrared spectroscopy owing to their elastic scattering at discontinuities in the heterostructure. The resulting radiative flux is quantified by mid-infrared pyrometry of the substrate receiving the energy. This radiative energy transfer is also shown to be reduced in hBN with nanoscale inhomogeneities, demonstrating the central role of the electromagnetic environment in this process.