Context

In a significant development, researchers have discovered a novel material called single-crystalline Scandium Nitride that can emit, detect, and modulate infrared light with high efficiencies making it useful for solar and thermal energy harvesting and for optical communication devices. 

About

• Electromagnetic waves are a renewable energy source used for electricity generation, telecommunication, defence and security technologies, sensors, and healthcare services.
• Scientists use high-tech methods to manipulate such waves precisely -- in dimensions that are thousands of times smaller than the human hair, using specialised materials. 
• Infrared light is difficult to detect and modulate.
  • For infrared light applications, intelligent and cutting-edge materials are required which can enable excitation, modulation, and detection at desired spectral range with high efficiencies.
  • Only a few existing materials can serve as hosts for light-matter interactions in the infrared spectral range
    
    

About the new Research:

• Researchers have utilised a scientific phenomenon called polariton excitations that occur in tailored materials when light couples with either the collective free electron oscillations or polar lattice vibrations.
• They have carefully controlled material properties to excite polaritons (a quasi-particle) and achieve strong light-matter interactions in single-crystalline scandium nitride (ScN) using infrared light.
• These exotic polaritons in the ScN can be utilised for solar and thermal energy harvesting.
• Also belonging to the same family of materials as gallium nitride (GaN), scandium nitride is compatible with modern complementary-metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) or Si-chip technology and, therefore, could be easily integrated for on-chip optical communication devices.