High-energy plasmon spectroscopy of freestanding multilayer graphene

Abstract

We present several applications of the layered electron gas model to electron energy loss spectroscopy of freestanding films consisting of N graphene layers in a scanning transmission electron microscope. Using a two-fluid model for the single-layer polarizability, we discuss the evolution of high-energy plasmon spectra with N and find good agreement with the recent experimental data for both multilayer graphene with N<10 and thick slabs of graphite. Such applications of these analytical models help shed light on several features observed in the plasmon spectra of those structures, including the role of plasmon dispersion, dynamic interference in excitations of various plasmon eigenmodes, as well as the relevance of the bulk plasmon bands, rather than surface plasmons, in classifying the plasmon peaks. © 2011 American Physical Society.