Tailored plasmon polariton landscape in graphene/boron nitride patterned heterostructures

Abstract

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 Al2O3 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.