Large spatial shifts of reflected light beam off biaxial hyperbolic materials

Many optical systems that deal with polarization rely on the adaptability of controlling light reflection in the lithography-free nanostructure. In this study, we explore the Goos–Hänchen (GH) shift and Imbert–Fedorov (IF) shift in a biaxial hyperbolic film on a uniaxial hyperbolic substrate. This research statistically calculates and analyzes the GH shift and IF shift for the natural biaxial hyperbolic material (NBHM). We select the surface with the strongest anisotropy within the NBHM and obtain the complex beam-shift spectrum. By incorporating the NBHM film, the GH shift caused by a transversely magnetic incident-beam on the surface increases significantly compared with that on the uniaxial hyperbolic material. The maximum of GH shift can reach 86λ₀ at about 841 cm⁻¹ when the thickness of NBHM is 90 nm, and the IF shift can approach 2.7λ₀ for a circularly-polarized beam incident on a 1700-nm-thick NBHM. It is found that the spatial-shift increases when a highly anisotropic hyperbolic polariton is excited in hyperbolic material, where the shift spectrum exhibits an oscillating behaviour accompanied with sharp shift peak (steep slope). This large spatial shift may provide an alternative strategy to develop novel sub-micrometric optical devices and biosensors.