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Fundamental limits to graphene plasmonics

Author

Listed:
  • G. X. Ni

    (Columbia University
    University of California, San Diego)

  • A. S. McLeod

    (Columbia University
    University of California, San Diego)

  • Z. Sun

    (University of California, San Diego)

  • L. Wang

    (Columbia University)

  • L. Xiong

    (Columbia University
    University of California, San Diego)

  • K. W. Post

    (University of California, San Diego)

  • S. S. Sunku

    (Columbia University
    Columbia University)

  • B.-Y. Jiang

    (University of California, San Diego)

  • J. Hone

    (Columbia University)

  • C. R. Dean

    (Columbia University)

  • M. M. Fogler

    (University of California, San Diego)

  • D. N. Basov

    (Columbia University
    University of California, San Diego)

Abstract

Plasmon polaritons are hybrid excitations of light and mobile electrons that can confine the energy of long-wavelength radiation at the nanoscale. Plasmon polaritons may enable many enigmatic quantum effects, including lasing 1 , topological protection2,3 and dipole-forbidden absorption 4 . A necessary condition for realizing such phenomena is a long plasmonic lifetime, which is notoriously difficult to achieve for highly confined modes 5 . Plasmon polaritons in graphene—hybrids of Dirac quasiparticles and infrared photons—provide a platform for exploring light–matter interaction at the nanoscale6,7. However, plasmonic dissipation in graphene is substantial 8 and its fundamental limits remain undetermined. Here we use nanometre-scale infrared imaging to investigate propagating plasmon polaritons in high-mobility encapsulated graphene at cryogenic temperatures. In this regime, the propagation of plasmon polaritons is primarily restricted by the dielectric losses of the encapsulated layers, with a minor contribution from electron–phonon interactions. At liquid-nitrogen temperatures, the intrinsic plasmonic propagation length can exceed 10 micrometres, or 50 plasmonic wavelengths, thus setting a record for highly confined and tunable polariton modes. Our nanoscale imaging results reveal the physics of plasmonic dissipation and will be instrumental in mitigating such losses in heterostructure engineering applications.

Suggested Citation

  • G. X. Ni & A. S. McLeod & Z. Sun & L. Wang & L. Xiong & K. W. Post & S. S. Sunku & B.-Y. Jiang & J. Hone & C. R. Dean & M. M. Fogler & D. N. Basov, 2018. "Fundamental limits to graphene plasmonics," Nature, Nature, vol. 557(7706), pages 530-533, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:557:y:2018:i:7706:d:10.1038_s41586-018-0136-9
    DOI: 10.1038/s41586-018-0136-9
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Sang Hyun Park & Michael Sammon & Eugene Mele & Tony Low, 2022. "Plasmonic gain in current biased tilted Dirac nodes," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-7, December.
    2. Hai Hu & Renwen Yu & Hanchao Teng & Debo Hu & Na Chen & Yunpeng Qu & Xiaoxia Yang & Xinzhong Chen & A. S. McLeod & Pablo Alonso-González & Xiangdong Guo & Chi Li & Ziheng Yao & Zhenjun Li & Jianing Ch, 2022. "Active control of micrometer plasmon propagation in suspended graphene," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-9, December.
    3. Hongwei Wang & Anshuman Kumar & Siyuan Dai & Xiao Lin & Zubin Jacob & Sang-Hyun Oh & Vinod Menon & Evgenii Narimanov & Young Duck Kim & Jian-Ping Wang & Phaedon Avouris & Luis Martin Moreno & Joshua C, 2024. "Planar hyperbolic polaritons in 2D van der Waals materials," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-14, December.
    4. Ian Aupiais & Romain Grasset & Tingwen Guo & Dmitri Daineka & Javier Briatico & Sarah Houver & Luca Perfetti & Jean-Paul Hugonin & Jean-Jacques Greffet & Yannis Laplace, 2023. "Ultrasmall and tunable TeraHertz surface plasmon cavities at the ultimate plasmonic limit," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-9, December.
    5. Ni Zhang & Weiwei Luo & Lei Wang & Jiang Fan & Wei Wu & Mengxin Ren & Xinzheng Zhang & Wei Cai & Jingjun Xu, 2022. "Strong in-plane scattering of acoustic graphene plasmons by surface atomic steps," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-6, December.
    6. H. Shiravi & A. Gupta & B. R. Ortiz & S. Cui & B. Yu & E. Uykur & A. A. Tsirlin & S. D. Wilson & Z. Sun & G. X. Ni, 2024. "Plasmons in the Kagome metal CsV3Sb5," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-7, December.
    7. Xin He & Jonathan M. Larson & Hans A. Bechtel & Robert Kostecki, 2022. "In situ infrared nanospectroscopy of the local processes at the Li/polymer electrolyte interface," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-10, December.

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