Influence of nonlocal excitonic optical response on in-plane exciton polaritons supported by monolayer transition-metal dichalcogenides
Abstract
Achieving nanoscale light confinement and long-range propagation is a central challenge in nanophotonics, with important implications for controlling molecular photophysical processes and energy transfer. Monolayer transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) support in-plane exciton-polaritons (IPEPs), deeply subwavelength optical modes in the visible range. In this regime, electromagnetic fields vary on length scales comparable to the exciton size, making spatial nonlocality in the excitonic optical response essential. Here, we develop a microscopic theory of the nonlocal excitonic optical response and investigate the near-field properties of IPEPs in hexagonal boron nitride (hBN)-encapsulated monolayer WS2. Combining a two-band massive Dirac fermion description with a generalized Mott-Wannier treatment, we derive a nonlocal electric susceptibility that accounts for both the center-of-mass and internal relative motion of excitons. Spatial nonlocality in the excitonic optical response shifts the polariton dispersion toward lower in-plane wavevectors compared with the results based on the local-response approximation. This reduces high-wavevector contributions and produces smoother near-field distributions that extend over larger lateral distances while retaining nanoscale confinement. Furthermore, at higher excitation energies, multiple exciton-polariton modes contribute at distinct wavevectors, and their relative contributions can be tuned by varying the thickness of the capping hBN layer. These insights elucidate the fundamental role of spatial nonlocality in the polaritonic properties of van der Waals heterostructures.
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BibTeX
@misc{miwa2026influence,
title = {{Influence of nonlocal excitonic optical response on in-plane exciton polaritons supported by monolayer transition-metal dichalcogenides}},
author = {Kuniyuki Miwa},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.09232},
eprint = {2610.09232},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.09232},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Influence of nonlocal excitonic optical response on in-plane exciton polaritons supported by monolayer transition-metal dichalcogenides
AU - Kuniyuki Miwa
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/06
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.09232
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.09232
AB - Achieving nanoscale light confinement and long-range propagation is a central challenge in nanophotonics, with important implications for controlling molecular photophysical processes and energy transfer. Monolayer transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) support in-plane exciton-polaritons (IPEPs), deeply subwavelength optical modes in the visible range. In this regime, electromagnetic fields vary on length scales comparable to the exciton size, making spatial nonlocality in the excitonic optical response essential. Here, we develop a microscopic theory of the nonlocal excitonic optical response and investigate the near-field properties of IPEPs in hexagonal boron nitride (hBN)-encapsulated monolayer WS_2. Combining a two-band massive Dirac fermion description with a generalized Mott-Wannier treatment, we derive a nonlocal electric susceptibility that accounts for both the center-of-mass and internal relative motion of excitons. Spatial nonlocality in the excitonic optical response shifts the polariton dispersion toward lower in-plane wavevectors compared with the results based on the local-response approximation. This reduces high-wavevector contributions and produces smoother near-field distributions that extend over larger lateral distances while retaining nanoscale confinement. Furthermore, at higher excitation energies, multiple exciton-polariton modes contribute at distinct wavevectors, and their relative contributions can be tuned by varying the thickness of the capping hBN layer. These insights elucidate the fundamental role of spatial nonlocality in the polaritonic properties of van der Waals heterostructures.
ER -