Giant optical anisotropy in Van der Waals materials: perspectives and challenges

Van der Waals (vdW) materials are at the core of modern optoelectronics and nanophotonics. However, relatively limited research attention is devoted to their giant optical anisotropy. Here, we demonstrate that the use of giant anisotropy leads to the next-generation integrated circuits and optical elements, determining the exact values of anisotropic dielectric permittivity tensor for the variety of vdW materials in the broad spectral range (250–1700 nm) using cross-validation of far- and near-field techniques, accompanied by first-principle calculations. Our results show high refractive index, transparency over the whole studied spectral range and giant optical anisotropy for all investigated vdW materials. Furthermore, we suggest applications of vdW materials for chiral optics and integrated photonics.