U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) scientists, in
collaboration with researchers from the University of Manchester, U.K.;
Imperial College, London; University of California San Diego; and the National
Institute of Material Science (NIMS), Japan, have demonstrated that confined
surface phonon polaritons within hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) exhibit unique
metamaterial properties that enable novel nanoscale optical devices for use in
optical communications, super-resolution imaging, and improved infrared cameras
and detectors.