Asymmetric damping of plasmons by electron-phonon instability

ORAL

Abstract

Graphene plasmon polaritons (GPP) under a direct current (dc) can be dragged in momentum [1][2] causing a break of optical reciprocity by current flow. We find that under substantial current (~1 mA/um), in addition to the Fizeau drag, there is a drastic change in quality factor of GPP which cannot be explained by regular thermal effects. A noticeable difference in propagation length of GPP is observed under different signs of current flow, revealing a directional perturbance of GPP due to the interplays among electrons, phonons and plasmons. The interdependence of electron-plasmon drag, electron-phonon instability [3] and phonon emission caused plasmon damping are demonstrated by nanoimaging and nearfield photocurrent maps on a dc biased graphene ribbon. 

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Publication: [1] Dong, Y., Xiong, L., Phinney, I.Y. et al. Fizeau drag in graphene plasmonics. Nature 594, 513–516 (2021).
[2] Zhao, W., Zhao, S., Li, H. et al. Efficient Fizeau drag from Dirac electrons in monolayer graphene. Nature 594, 517–521 (2021)
[3] Anderson, I. T., Dwyer, B. L., Sanchez-Yamagishi, J. D. et al. Electron-phonon instability in graphene revealed by global and local noise probes. Science 364, 6436, 154-157 (2019)

Presenters

  • Yinan Dong

    • Columbia University

Authors

  • Yinan Dong

    • Columbia University

  • Zhiyuan Sun

    • Columbia Univ
    • Harvard University
    • Columbia University

  • Trond Andersen

    • Harvard University

  • Isabelle Y Phinney

    • Harvard University

  • Denis A Bandurin

    • Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  • Lin Xiong

    • Columbia Univ

  • Song Liu

    • Columbia University
    • Columbia University, US
    • Tim Taylor Department of Chemical Engineering, Kansas State University

  • Michael M Fogler

    • University of California, San Diego

  • Dmitri N Basov

    • Columbia University