Two-dimensional phonon polaritons in multilayers of hexagonal boron nitride from a macroscopic phonon model

Abstract: Phonon polaritons (PhPs) in freestanding and supported multilayers (MuLs) of hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) are systematically studied using a macroscopic optical-phonon model. The PhP properties such as confinement, group velocity, propagation quality factor (PQF) and wavelength scaling are studied. Owing to the nonlocal high-frequency screening, there is an upper frequency limit making the two-dimensional (2D) PhPs have a frequency band, and also a maximum PQF occurs near the centre frequency. The substrate's dielectric response should be included to accurately calculate the PhP properties. While the simple electrostatic approximation (ESA) is a proper treatment for PhP frequencies $\omega$ above $\omega_0$ (e.g. $\omega>1.03\omega_0$ for the 30-layers; $\omega_0$ is the $\Gamma$ point optical phonon frequency), it fails to describe the PhP properties near $\omega_0$ and the effect of retardation should be included for an accurate description. The PhP wavelength versus the layer thickness near $\omega_0$ deviates significantly from a linear scaling law given by the ESA due to strong phonon-photon coupling. The calculated PhP dispersion, PQF and scaling are compared with experimental data of a number of spectroscopic studies and good agreement is obtained. While the frequency of incident light should be near the centre frequency to maximize the PQF, the PhP wavelength, confinement and propagation length can be engineered by varying the MuL thickness and its dielectric environment.