Mainz 2026 – scientific programme
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Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik
Q 71: Cavity QED and QED II
Q 71.1: Talk
Friday, March 6, 2026, 11:00–11:15, P 4
Hyperbolic Phonon Polaritons and Color Centers in hBN: a new platform for quantum optics — •Jiecheng Feng1,2,3, Johannes Eberle1, Sambuddha Chattopadhyay1,4, Johannes Knörzer1, Eugene Demler1, and Atac Imamoglu1 — 1ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland — 2Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Hamburg, Germany — 3RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany — 4Harvard University, Massachusetts, USA
Hyperbolic phonon polaritons (HPPs) in hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) confine mid-IR light to deeply subwavelength scales but are typically generated and probed with classical near-field tips, limiting quantum control. We link this platform with the rapidly developing field of hBN color centers, bright, photostable, atomically localized emitters, by developing a cavity-QED framework in which a single color center serves as a quantum source of HPPs. We quantify emitter-HPP coupling and analyze two routes: spontaneous phonon-sideband emission, which yields single-HPP events and becomes single-mode in ultrathin slabs; and stimulated Raman driving, which provides frequency selectivity, tunable conversion, and narrowband excitation that launches directional, ray-like HPPs over micrometers. We also propose a two-emitter correlation test applicable to both schemes. Together, these results point to a new direction for mid-IR light-matter experiments that unite strong coupling, spectral selectivity, and spatial reach within a single material system.
Keywords: Hexagonal Boron Nitride; Hyperbolic Phonon Polaritons; Color Center; Phonon Sideband; Raman Scattering