CdZnO/sapphire as a plasmonic metamaterial: surface plasmon-phonon polariton hibridation

Transparent Conductive Oxides (TCOs) have been described as a promising alternative to metals for IR plasmonics. However, low propagation of surface plasmons is a major shortcoming limiting the potential of these materials in waveguiding-related applications. As a proof of concept, we propose using polar plasmonic substrates as a method to overcome this issue. In this study, we demonstrate the existence of hybrid phonon-plasmon surface waves in an air-CdZnO-sapphire system and characterize their properties, including an improved propagation distance when compared to a plasmonic-only equivalent system.