Electroluminescence and Energy Transfer Mediated by Hyperbolic Polaritons

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 (e.g., light-emitting diodes). In principle, electroluminescence can lead to mid-infrared (mid-IR) emission of confined light-matter excitations called phonon-polaritons, 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) exhibit hyperbolic dispersion, which enhances light-matter coupling. 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 transistors. However, since HPhPs are confined, they are inaccessible in the far-field, so that any hint of electroluminescence is only based on indirect electronic signatures and needs to be confirmed by direct observation. Here, we demonstrate far-field mid-IR (λ = 6.5 μm) 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 via far-field mid-IR spectroscopy due to their elastic scattering at discontinuities in the heterostructure. The associated radiative flux is quantified by mid-IR pyrometry of the substrate receiving the energy. This radiative energy transfer is shown to be reduced in hBN with nanoscale inhomogeneities, demonstrating the central role of the electromagnetic environment in this process.