Probing Azimuthal Anatomy of Hyperbolic Whispering Gallery Modes in hBN
The episode discusses a paper about probing hyperbolic whispering gallery modes in hexagonal boron nitride resonators using scattering-type scanning near-field optical microscopy (s-SNOM). The authors propose decoupling excitation from detection by using an auxiliary cavity as a stationary source. This method successfully reveals high-Q modes with large, discrete azimuthal momentum, validating theoretical models and opening new avenues for engineering polaritonic devices.