Effect of the hyperbolic photon mode on the metal insulator transition in a proximate material

Abstract

The hyperbolic mode (HM) refers to a polariton mode where the dielectric function is negative in some direction of propagation. Within a frequency window the light occupies a greatly expanded region in momentum space. We compute the photon density of states and find that the zero point fluctuation in the RMS electric field can reach $MV/cm$, comparable to the largest field used in pump probe experiments in the THz scale. The HM in hexagonal Boron Nitride (hBN) has been under intense study and we consider placing a material that is near the Mott transition directly on top hBN. We find that a substantial shift in the metal-insulator transition is possible, but the effect decays rapidly with distance, so that only a few monolayers are affected. We provide estimates and suggestions for a number of materials of interest.