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 (for example, light-emitting diodes)1,2. In principle, electroluminescence can lead to mid-infrared emission of confined light–matter excitations called phonon polaritons3,4, 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) present hyperbolic dispersion, which enhances light–matter coupling5,6. 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 transistors7,8. However, as HPhPs are locally confined, they are inaccessible in the far field, and as such, any hint of electroluminescence has been based on indirect electronic signatures and has yet to be confirmed by direct observation. Here we demonstrate far-field mid-infrared (wavelength approximately 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 by far-field mid-infrared spectroscopy owing to their elastic scattering at discontinuities in the heterostructure. The resulting radiative flux is quantified by mid-infrared pyrometry of the substrate receiving the energy. This radiative energy transfer is also shown to be reduced in hBN with nanoscale inhomogeneities, demonstrating the central role of the electromagnetic environment in this process.