Phonon-polaritons in Zn(1-x)MgxTe (x<0.09): A Raman scattering study

D. Singh; A. Elmahjoubi; O. Pages; V. J. B. Torres; C. Gardiennet; G. Kervern; A. Polian; Y. Le Godec; J. -P. Itie; S. Diliberto; S. Michel; P. Franchetti; K. Strzalkowski

arXiv · 2504.10977

Phonon-polaritons in Zn(1-x)MgxTe (x<0.09): A Raman scattering study

D. Singh·A. Elmahjoubi·O. Pages·V. J. B. Torres·C. Gardiennet·G. Kervern·A. Polian·Y. Le Godec·J. -P. Itie·S. Diliberto·S. Michel·P. Franchetti·K. Strzalkowski

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Abstract

Phonon-polaritons (PP) are phonon-photon coupled modes. Using near-forward Raman scattering, the PP of the cubic Zn(1-x)MgxTe (x<0.09) semiconductor alloy could be measured. While the PP-coupling hardly develops in pure ZnTe, minor Mg-alloying suffices to stabilize a long-lifetime PP strongly bound to the lattice, i.e., with a pronounced phonon character, and yet a fast one originating from the highly dispersive photon-like bottleneck of the PP-dispersion. By combining the advantages of a phonon and of a photon, the long-lifetime PP generated by minor Mg-alloying of ZnTe marks an improvement over the PP of pristine ZnTe, that, from the Raman cross section calculation, can only achieve a balanced compromise between the two kinds of advantages, intensity and speed. The discussion of the PP-related lattice dynamics of Zn(1-x)MgxTe (x<0.09) is grounded in a preliminary study of the lattice macro- and microstructure using X-ray diffraction and solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance, respectively, and further relies on ab initio calculations of the native phonon modes behind the PP in the Mg-dilute limit of Zn(1-x)MgxTe (x~0), considering various Mg-isotopes.

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D. Singh, A. Elmahjoubi, O. Pages, V. J. B. Torres, C. Gardiennet, G. Kervern, A. Polian, Y. Le Godec, J. -P. Itie, S. Diliberto, S. Michel, P. Franchetti, K. Strzalkowski. 2025-04-15. Phonon-polaritons in Zn(1-x)MgxTe (x<0.09): A Raman scattering study. https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.10977

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