Localized Phonon Polariton Resonances as Highly Efficient IR Plasmon Graphene Launchers
Abstract
The aim of this project is to build a versatile and efficient technological platform for launching and/or confining graphene surface plasmon (GSP) modes. The main goal is to manipulate light in graphene in the same fashion as electrons in an electrical circuit or photon in a fiber.The coupling of infra-red (IR) radiation into highly confined graphene surface plasmons will be possible due to the excitation of phonon polariton modes in nanostructured polar dielectric crystals. Due to their unprecedented confinement, plasmons in graphene are very promising for controlling light-matter interactions at nanoscale level. Consequently, they are natural candidates for IR molecular sensing. In addition, to launch and control of GSPs is the first step for future graphene plasmonic nano-circuits. However, a critical issue for this vision to come true is the mismatch between the plasmon and the light wave-vectors, which is extreme due to the high confinement that GSP modes offer. It is this inherent advantage of high confinement which implies a huge disadvantage for efficient excitation. We propose here to solve it due to the strong localized character of phonon polariton resonances.Results of our research are particularly relevant to US Navy interests, particularly in the area of highly sensitive IR detectors. Such detectors can be easily tuned to be very accurate at the desired IR frequencies. This is due to the unprecedented tuning properties of graphene obtained just via electrical gating. Our outcomes will be published in scientific journals and presented at international conferences, as well as they will be public in our websites.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Feb 03, 2017
- Source ID
- N62909151N082
Entities
People
- Vincenzo Giannin
Organizations
- Imperial College London
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy