Low-Loss Zero-Index Materials.

Tang, Haoning; DeVault, Clayton; Camayd-Muñoz, Sarah Alejandra; Liu, Yueyang; Jia, Danchen; Du, Fan; Mello, Olivia; Vulis, Daryl I et al. · Nano Lett · 2021

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Materials with a zero refractive index support electromagnetic modes that exhibit stationary phase profiles. While such materials have been realized across the visible and near-infrared spectral range, radiative and dissipative optical losses have hindered their development. We reduce losses in zero-index, on-chip photonic crystals by introducing high-<i>Q</i> resonances via resonance-trapped and symmetry-protected states. Using these approaches, we experimentally obtain quality factors of 2.6 × 10<sup>3</sup> and 7.8 × 10<sup>3</sup> at near-infrared wavelengths, corresponding to an order-of-magnitude reduction in propagation loss over previous designs. Our work presents a viable approach to fabricate zero-index on-chip nanophotonic devices with low-loss.