Dynamic tuning of Bloch modes in anisotropic phonon polaritonic crystals

Junbo Xu; Ke Yu; Xiang Ni; Enrico M. Renzi; Lei Zhou; Yanzhen Yin; Zhou Zhou; Zhichen Zhao; Tao He; Di Huang; Kyoung-Duck Park; Zhanshan Wang; Andrea Alù; Tao Jiang

doi:10.1038/s41377-025-02157-6

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Dynamic tuning of Bloch modes in anisotropic phonon polaritonic crystals

Original Articles

- Dynamic tuning of Bloch modes in anisotropic phonon polaritonic crystals
- Light: Science & Applications Vol. 15, Issue 2, Pages: 547-555(2026)
- Affiliations：
  
  1.MOE Key Laboratory of Advanced Micro-Structured Materials, Shanghai Frontiers Science Center of Digital Optics, Institute of Precision Optical Engineering, and School of Physics Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, China
  2.School of Physics, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China
  3.Photonics Initiative, Advanced Science Research Center, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA
  4.Physics Program, The Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA
  5.Department of Physics and Department of Semiconductor Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Pohang, Republic of Korea
  6.Shanghai Institute of Intelligent Science and Technology, Tongji University, Shanghai, China
- Author bio：
  
  Andrea Alù (aalu@gc.cuny.edu)
  Tao Jiang (tjiang@tongji.edu.cn)
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1038/s41377-025-02157-6
  CLC：
- Received：20 August 2025，
  
  Revised：2025-11-24，
  
  Accepted：02 December 2025，
  
  Online First：03 January 2026，
  
  Published：28 February 2026
- Accepted：
Scan QR Code
Xu, J. B. et al. Dynamic tuning of Bloch modes in anisotropic phonon polaritonic crystals. Light: Science & Applications, 15, 547-555 (2026).
DOI：

Xu, J. B. et al. Dynamic tuning of Bloch modes in anisotropic phonon polaritonic crystals. Light: Science & Applications, 15, 547-555 (2026). DOI： 10.1038/s41377-025-02157-6.

摘要

Abstract

Phonon polaritons

arising from the coupling of photons with lattice vibrations

enable light confinement on deeply subwavelength scales. Phonon polaritonic crystals (PoCs)

leveraging these inherently low-dissipation excitations

have further shown exceptional potential for nanoscale light manipulation through engineered Bloch modes. Yet

their static nature has so far hindered dynamic modulation

thus limiting their adaptability for real-time applications. Here

we demonstrate in situ electrostatic control of low-loss anisotropic phonon-polaritonic Bloch modes in α-MoO

patterned into a periodic hole array with a graphene gate. Through theoretical calculation and real-space nano-imaging

we show that electrostatic gating dynamically modulates key characteristics of Bloch modes in hybrid α-MoO

/graphene PoCs. Critically

gating reshapes the PoC band structure

spectrally aligning high-density-of-states flat-band regions with the excitation laser frequency

thereby selectively amplifying Bloch mode resonances. We further achieve on-demand switching over far-field leakage of Bloch modes by electrostatically steering these flat bands across the light cone. Our work establishes a platform for adaptive nanostructured phonon polaritonic devices. This advancement not only facilitates directional control of low-loss anisotropic phonon-polaritonic Bloch modes

but also paves the way for their practical application in nanophotonics.

关键词

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references

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