Tailored plasmon polariton landscape in graphene/boron nitride patterned heterostructures

Scientific paper - Original scientific paper

• Author: Neven Golenić
• Author: Stefano de Gironcoli
• Author: Vito Despoja
• Author's institution: University of Zagreb; Faculty of Science; (Department of Physics)
• Scientific / art field, discipline and subdiscipline: NATURAL SCIENCES; Physics

Abstract (english)

Surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs), which are electromagnetic modes representing collective oscillations of charge density coupled with photons, have been extensively studied in graphene. This has provided a solid foundation for understanding SPPs in 2D materials. However, the emergence of wafer-transfer techniques has led to the creation of various quasi-2D van der Waals heterostructures, highlighting certain gaps in our understanding of their optical properties in relation to SPPs. To address this, we analyzed electromagnetic modes in graphene/hexagonal-boron-nitride/graphene heterostructures on a dielectric AlO substrate using the full ab initio RPA optical conductivity tensor. Our theoretical model was validated through comparison with recent experiments measuring evanescent in-phase Dirac and out-of-phase acoustic SPP branches. Furthermore, we investigate how the number of plasmon branches and their dispersion are sensitive to variables such as layer count and charge doping. Notably, we demonstrate that patterning of the topmost graphene into nanoribbons provides efficient Umklapp scattering of the bottommost Dirac plasmon polariton (DP) into the radiative region, resulting in the conversion of the DP into a robust infrared-active plasmon. Additionally, we show that the optical activity of the DP and its hybridization with inherent plasmon resonances in graphene nanoribbons are highly sensitive to the doping of both the topmost and bottommost graphene layers. By elucidating these optical characteristics, we aspire to catalyze further advancements and create new opportunities for innovative applications in photonics and optoelectronic integration.

• Keywords (english): Surface plasmon polaritons; SPPs
• Language: english
• Publication type: Scientific paper - Original scientific paper
• Publication status: Published
• Peer review: Peer review - international
• Publication version: Published version
• Journal title: npj 2D Materials and Applications
• Numbering: vol. 8, no. 1, 37
• e-ISSN: 2397-7132
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41699-024-00469-6
• URN:NBN: urn:nbn:hr:217:020228
• Publication: 2024-05-24
• Project: Number: KK.01.1.1.01.0004; Title (croatian): Provedba vrhunskih istraživanja u sklopu Znanstvenog centra izvrsnosti za kvantne i kompleksne sustave te reprezentacije Liejevih algebri; Title (english): Implementation of top research within the Scientific Center of Excellence for Quantum and Complex Systems, and Representations of Lie Algebras; Acronym: QuantiXLie; Leader: Hrvoje Buljan; Jurisdiction: eu; Funding stream: European Regional Development Fund
• Project: Number: IP-2020-02-5556; Title (croatian): Plazmoni i eksiton-polaritoni u kvazi-2D kristalima; Title (english): Plasmons and exciton-polaritons in quasi-2D crystals; Acronym: 2DPlasEx; Leader: Vito Despoja; Jurisdiction: Croatia; Funding stream: Research Projects
• Document URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41699-024-00469-6
• Type of resource: Text
• Access conditions: Open access
• Public note: © The Author(s) 2024. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. Published: 24 May 2024.
• Created on: 2024-08-01 10:52:54