Tailoring plasmonics in van der Waals heterostructures.

This research proposal aims at untangling and modelling the plasmonic properties of various van der Waals heterostructures and at using these models to construct new tailor-made structures that host unique types of plasmons. By changing the composition and structural properties of heterostructures, we will be able to uncover novel ways to manipulate light at sub-wavelength length scales by coupling it to collective excitations of the electron liquid, so-called plasmons. Van der Waals heterostructures are stacks of different types of atomically thin two-dimensional materials. In the wake of the discovery of graphene, a single layer of graphite, many other atomically thin crystals have been discovered and each of them has its own electronic behavior ranging from insulators over semiconductors and semimetals to even superconductors. We are now in a unique position to combine different two-dimensional crystals in a single stack and to construct tailor-made heterostructures in which the properties of the individual materials can be used in concert. In this project I will investigate various heterostructures in order to extend our understanding of the behavior of plasmons in these materials, and furthermore to uncover plasmons with unprecedented characteristics. The proposed work will be done in close collaboration with foreign experimental groups that will provide necessary feedback to improve the models and to test the plasmonic response of proposed heterostructures.

Keywords:NANO OPTICS, CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, MANY-BODY PHYSICS, GRAPHENE, TWO-DIMENSIONAL MATERIALS

Disciplines:Dielectrics, piezoelectrics and ferroelectrics, Optical properties and interactions with radiation, Surfaces, interfaces, 2D materials, Metamaterials, Quantum optics

Project type:Collaboration project