Electrical generation of surface plasmon polaritons in plasmonic heterostructures
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arXiv
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| Natura: | Preprint |
| Pubblicazione: |
2025
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| _version_ | 1866911356046802944 |
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| author | Trushin, Maxim |
| author_facet | Trushin, Maxim |
| contents | Surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) can be understood as two-dimensional light confined to a conductor-dielectric interface via plasmonic excitations. While low-energy SPPs behave similarly to photons, higher-frequency SPPs resemble surface plasmons. Electrically generating mid-range SPPs is particularly challenging because it requires compensating for momentum mismatch, a process conventionally achieved through inelastic electron transport in nanostructures. Here, we theoretically demonstrate that electrical SPP generation is possible by directly coupling electron-hole dipoles to the quantized SPP field across an insulating spacer without accompanying electron transport. This approach can be realized in plasmonic van der Waals heterostructures composed of strongly-biased monolayer graphene as the emitter, few-layer hexagonal boron nitride as the spacer, and silver (or gold) as the plasmonic material. In this configuration, graphene's remarkable ability to support a strongly non-equilibrium steady-state electron-hole population results in non-thermal, bias-tunable SPP emission that is uniform along the hBN/Ag interface, achieving a power conversion efficiency of up to 1% and a Purcell factor of up to 100. These findings pave the way for integrating photonic and electronic functionalities within a single two-dimensional heterostructure. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2505_02358 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Electrical generation of surface plasmon polaritons in plasmonic heterostructures Trushin, Maxim Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics Materials Science Optics Surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) can be understood as two-dimensional light confined to a conductor-dielectric interface via plasmonic excitations. While low-energy SPPs behave similarly to photons, higher-frequency SPPs resemble surface plasmons. Electrically generating mid-range SPPs is particularly challenging because it requires compensating for momentum mismatch, a process conventionally achieved through inelastic electron transport in nanostructures. Here, we theoretically demonstrate that electrical SPP generation is possible by directly coupling electron-hole dipoles to the quantized SPP field across an insulating spacer without accompanying electron transport. This approach can be realized in plasmonic van der Waals heterostructures composed of strongly-biased monolayer graphene as the emitter, few-layer hexagonal boron nitride as the spacer, and silver (or gold) as the plasmonic material. In this configuration, graphene's remarkable ability to support a strongly non-equilibrium steady-state electron-hole population results in non-thermal, bias-tunable SPP emission that is uniform along the hBN/Ag interface, achieving a power conversion efficiency of up to 1% and a Purcell factor of up to 100. These findings pave the way for integrating photonic and electronic functionalities within a single two-dimensional heterostructure. |
| title | Electrical generation of surface plasmon polaritons in plasmonic heterostructures |
| topic | Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics Materials Science Optics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.02358 |