We show that meta-antennas made of a composite material displaying type II hyperbolic dispersion enable precise and controlled spectral separation of absorption and scattering processes in the visible/near-infrared frequency range. The experimental evidence is supported by a comprehensive theoretical study. We demonstrate that the physical mechanism responsible for the aforementioned effect lies in the different natures of the plasmonic modes excited within the hyperbolic meta-antennas. We prove that it is possible to have a pure scattering channel if an electric dipolar mode is induced, while a pure absorption process can be obtained if a magnetic dipole is excited. Also, by varying the geometry of the system, the relative weight of scattering and absorption can be tuned, thus enabling an arbitrary control of the decay channels. Importantly, both modes can be efficiently excited by direct coupling with the far-field radiation, even when the radiative channel (scattering) is almost totally suppressed, hence making the proposed architecture suitable for practical applications. E 0 k n = 1.5 n = 1.5 J J J J n= 1.5  = 860 nm  = 1120 nm  = 1100 nm  = 1300 nm  = 860 nm  = 1120 nm  = 1100 nm  = 1300 nm APPENDIX A: NUMERICAL SIMULATIONS AND THEORETICAL ANALYSIS 1. Optimization of the hyperbolic meta-antennas dimensions and composition

Harmonic generation mechanisms are of great interest in nanoscience and nanotechnology, since they allow generating visible light by using near-infrared radiation, which is particularly suitable for its countless applications in bionanophotonics and optoelectronics. In this context, multilayer metal–dielectric nanocavities are widely used for light confinement and waveguiding at the nanoscale. They exhibit intense and localized resonances that can be conveniently tuned in the near-infrared and are therefore ideal for enhancing nonlinear effects in this spectral range. In this work, we experimentally investigate the nonlinear emission properties of multilayer metal–dielectric nanocavities. By engineering their absorption efficiency and exploiting their intrinsic interface-induced symmetry breaking, we achieve an almost 2 orders of magnitude higher second-harmonic generation efficiency compared to gold nanostructures featuring the same geometry and optical resonant behavior. In particular, while both the third-order nonlinear susceptibility and conversion efficiency are comparable with those of the Au nanoresonators, we estimate a second-order nonlinear susceptibility of the order of 1 pm/V, which is comparable with that of typical nonlinear crystals. We envision that our system, which combines the advantages of both plasmonic and dielectric materials, might enable the realization of composite and multifunctional nanosystems for the efficient manipulation of nonlinear optical processes at the nanoscale.

Layered metal/dielectric hyperbolic metamaterials (HMMs) support a wide landscape of plasmon polariton excitations. In addition to surface plasmon polaritons, coupled Bloch-like gap-plasmon polaritons with high modal confinement inside the multilayer are supported.Photons can excite only a subset of these polaritonic modes, typically with a limited energy and momentum range in respect to the wide set of high-K modes supported by hyperbolic dispersion media, and coupling with gratings or local excitation is necessary. Strikingly, electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) in a scanning transmission electron microscope allows nm-scale local excitation and mapping of the spatial field distribution of all the modes supported by a photonic or plasmonic structure, both bright and dark, and also all other inelastic interactions of the beam, including phonons and interband transitions. Herein, experimental evidence of the spatial distribution of plasmon polaritons in multilayered type II 2 HMM nanostructures is acquired with an aloof electron beam adjacent to structures of current interest. HMM pillars are useful for their separation and adjustability of optical scattering and absorption, while HMM slot cavities can be used as waveguides with high field confinement.The nature of the modes is confirmed with corresponding simulations of EEL and optical spectra and near-field intensities.