Band Gaps and Localization of Surface Waves at Hyperbolic Material and Topological Insulator Interfaces
We develop analytical criteria for surface electromagnetic waves at interfaces between hyperbolic materials and topological insulators. The analysis identifies propagation conditions, field penetration depths, and spectral band gaps. In the lossless model, the band edge is governed primarily by dielectric contrast, while the bulk topological coupling produces only a small shift and a weak correction to the dispersion. For structures combining hexagonal boron nitride with bismuth selenide, a thin topological insulator film on a dielectric substrate with low permittivity can substantially broaden the accessible propagation window. We also analyze a dissipative titanium and silicon hyperbolic effective medium interfaced with bismuth selenide. To make the complex branch structure visible, this lossy calculation uses an intentionally enhanced interface response and is therefore illustrative rather than a quantitative prediction for a conventional topological insulator. In the lossy case, a root of the dispersion relation represents a physical guided mode only when the fields decay away from the interface, attenuate consistently along the propagation direction, have finite penetration depths, and exhibit a consistent energy flow profile. Apparent gaps and jumps can occur when the complex quantities controlling transverse decay approach square root branch cuts. These results provide design guidelines for controlling dispersion, confinement, band gaps, and propagation loss in mid-infrared photonic structures.