Role of disorder in plasmon-assisted near-field heat transfer between two-dimensional metals
Jonathan L. Wise, Denis M. Basko, Frank W. J. Hekking
备注:
Addition of Sec. IIC. discussing the generality of the results - in particular clarifying the validity conditions for the near-field limit. Addition of Sec. VI. comparing the theoretical results to experiments. Addition of an illustrative panel in Fig. 5(b)
We perform a theoretical study of the near-field heat transfer between two atomically thin metallic layers, isolated galvanically but coupled by the Coulomb interaction, within the framework of fluctuational electrodynamics in the Coulomb limit. We clarify the role of disorder and spatial dispersion, and identify several distinct regimes of the heat transfer. We find that the plasmon contribution to the heat current is suppressed both in the clean and diffusive limits, but dominates in a parametrically wide crossover region at sufficiently high temperatures.
We develop a theory of electron tunneling accompanied by carrier-carrier scattering in graphene - insulator - graphene heterostructures. Due to the dynamic screening of Coulomb interaction, the scattering-aided tunneling is resonantly enhanced if the transferred energy and momentum correspond to those of surface plasmons. We reveal the possible experimental manifestations of such plasmon-assisted tunneling in current-voltage curves and plasmon emission spectra of graphene-based tunnel junctions. We find that inelastic current and plasmon emission rates have sharp peaks at voltages providing eq…
Thermal relaxation of nanoscale magnetic islands, mimicking Ising macrospins, is indispensable for studies of geometrically frustrated artificial spin systems and low-energy nanomagnetic computation. Currently-used heating schemes based on contact to a thermal reservoir, however, lack the speed and spatial selectivity required for the implementation in technological applications. Applying a hybrid approach by combining a plasmonic nanoheater with a magnetic element, in this work we establish the robust and reliable control of local temperatures in nanomagnetic arrays by contactless optical mea…
Phononless plasmon assisted thermally activated transport through a long disordered array of finite length quantum wires is investigated analytically. Generically strong electron plasmon interaction in quantum wires results in a qualitative change of the temperature dependence of thermally activated resistance in comparison to phonon assisted transport. At high temperatures, the thermally activated resistance is determined by the Luttinger liquid interaction parameter of the wires.
In a proposed book chapter surface plasmon polariton assisted optical switching in noble metal nanoparticle systems is discussed in the sub-band gap formalism.
Reply to comment on "Thermal effects -- an alternative mechanism for plasmon-assisted photocatalysis" by P. Jain [Chem. Sci., 2020, 11, DOI: 10.1039/D0SC02914A]
Recent scattering-type scanning near-field optical spectroscopy (s-SNOM) experiments on single-layer graphene have reported Dirac plasmon lifetimes that are substantially shorter than the dc transport scattering time τ_{tr}. We highlight that the plasmon lifetime is fundamentally different from τ_{tr} since it is controlled by the imaginary part of the current-current linear response function at finite momentum and frequency. We first present the minimal theory of the extrinsic lifetime of Dirac plasmons due to scattering against impurities. We then show that a very reasonable concentration of…
We present a quantum-mechanical model for surface-assisted carrier excitation by optical fields in plasmonic nanostructures of arbitrary shape. We derive an explicit expression, in terms of local fields inside the metal structure, for surface absorbed power and surface scattering rate that determine the enhancement of carrier excitation efficiency near the metal-dielectric interface. We show that surface scattering is highly sensitive to the local field polarization, and can be incorporated into metal dielectric function along with phonon and impurity scattering. We also show that the obtained…
In this letter we propose an experiment to measure the Kondo effect for magnetic atoms adsorbed on the surface of a metallic nanowire. In addition to the traditional sp-d hybridization, by introducing the strong electromagnetic field of the localized surface plasmon on the nanowire, we show that it is possible to observe additional sp-d electron transfer processes assisted by surface plasmons. Due to the good surface-to-volume ratio of the nanowire, the Kondo resonances here would be revealed as multiple anti-resonances in the differential conductance versus bias voltage curve.
Coupled quantum Hall edge channels show intriguing non-trivial modes, for example, charge and neutral modes at Landau level filling factors 2 and 2/3. We propose an appropriate and effective model with Coulomb interaction and disorder-induced tunneling characterized by coupling capacitances and tunneling conductances, respectively. This model explains how the transport eigenmodes, within the interaction- and disorder-dominated regimes, change with the coupling capacitance, tunneling conductance, and measurement frequency. We propose frequency- and time-domain transport experiments, from which …
We demonstrate that longitudinal plasmons in doped monolayer graphene can mediate highly efficient long-range energy transfer between nearby fluorophores, e.g., semiconductor quantum dots. We derive a simple analytical expression for the energy transfer efficiency that incorporates all the essential processes involved. We perform numerical calculations of the transfer efficiency for a pair of PbSe quantum dots near graphene for inter-fluorophore distances of up to 1 $μ$m and find that the plasmon-assisted long-range energy transfer can be enhanced by up to a factor of $\sim10^4$ relative to th…
A great deal of theoretical and experimental efforts have been devoted in the last decades to the study of long-wavelength photodetection mechanisms in field-effect transistors hosting two-dimensional (2D) electron systems. A particularly interesting subclass of these mechanisms is intrinsic and based on the conversion of the incoming electromagnetic radiation into plasmons, which resonantly enhance the photoresponse, and subsequent rectification via hydrodynamic nonlinearities. In this Article we show that such conversion and subsequent rectification occur well beyond the frequency regime in …
Localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) excitation of nanostructures and charge transfer in plasmonic nanocavities plays a central role in nanoscale optoelectronics and in applications for plasmonic devices. However, the direct observation of near-filed induced charge transfer has remained as a challenging experiment. Here we present LSPR-assisted resonant electron tunneling from an Ag or Au tip to the image potential states of a Ag(111) surface using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). The LSPR-assisted tunneling process results in an incident photon-energy dependent red-shift of the fiel…
Porous nanosponges, percolated with a three-dimensional network of 10-nm sized ligaments, recently emerged as promising substrates for plasmon-enhanced spectroscopy and (photo-)catalysis. Experimental and theoretical work suggests surface plasmon localization in some hot-spot modes as the physical origin of their unusual optical properties, but so far the existence of such hot-spots has not been proven. Here we use scattering-type scanning near-field nano-spectroscopy on individual gold nanosponges to reveal spatially and spectrally confined modes with 10 nanometer localization lengths by mapp…
We present a theoretical treatment for the ejection of a secondary electron from a clean metallic surface induced by the impact of a fast primary electron. Assuming a direct scattering between the incident, primary electron and the electron in a metal, we calculate the electron-pair energy distributions at the surfaces of Al and Be. Different models for the screening of the electron-electron interaction are examined and the footprints of the surface and the bulk plasmon modes are determined and analyzed. The formulated theoretical approach is compared with the available experimental data on th…
We measure the statistical distribution of the local density of optical states (LDOS) on disordered semi-continuous metal films. We show that LDOS fluctuations exhibit a maximum in a regime where fractal clusters dominate the film surface. These large fluctuations are a signature of surface-plasmon localization on the nanometer scale.
We develop a theory of cooperative emission of light by an ensemble of emitters, such as fluorescing molecules or semiconductor quantum dots, located near a metal nanostructure supporting surface plasmon. The primary mechanism of cooperative emission in such systems is resonant energy transfer between emitters and plasmons rather than the Dicke radiative coupling between emitters. We identify two types of plasmonic coupling between the emitters, (i) plasmon-enhanced radiative coupling and (ii) plasmon-assisted nonradiative energy transfer, the competition between them governing the structure o…
The plasmon modes of pristine and impurity doped graphene are calculated, using a real-space theory which determines the non-local dielectric response within the random phase approximation. A full diagonalization of the polarization operator is performed, allowing the extraction of all its poles. It is demonstrated how impurities induce the formation of localized modes which are absent in pristine graphene. The dependence of the spatial modulations over few lattice sites and frequencies of the localized plasmons on the electronic filling and impurity strength is discussed. Furthermore, it is s…
Metal films grown on Si wafer perforated with a periodic array of subwavelength holes have been fabricated and anomalous enhanced transmission in the mid-infrared regime has been observed. High order transmission peaks up to Si(2,2) are clearly revealed due to the large dielectric constant contrast of the dielectrics at the opposite interfaces. Si(1,1) peak splits at oblique incidence both in TE and TM polarization, which confirms that anomalous enhanced transmission is a surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) assisted diffraction phenomenon. Theoretical transmission spectra agree excellently with …
Plasmonic systems have attracted remarkable interest due to their application to the subwavelength confinement of light and the associated enhancement of light-matter interactions. However, this requires light to dwell at a given spatial location over timescales longer than the coupling rate to any relevant loss mechanism. Here we develop a general strategy for the design of stopped-light plasmonic metasurfaces, by taking advantage of the conformal symmetry which underpins near-field optics. By means of the analytical technique of transformation optics, we propose a class of plasmonic gratings…
A physically transparent unified theory of optically and plasmon induced hot carrier generation in metals is developed with all the relevant mechanisms included. Analytical expressions that estimate the carrier generation rates, their locations, energy and direction of motion are obtained. Among four mechanisms considered: interband absorption, phonon and defect assisted absorption, electron electron scattering assisted absorption, and surface collision assisted absorption (Landau damping), it is the last one that generates hot carriers which are most useful for practical applications in photo…
We demonstrate plasmon-enhanced photoconduction in Au bowtie nanojunctions containing nanogaps overlaid with an amorphous Ge film. The role of plasmons in the production of nanogap photocurrent is verified by studying the unusual polarization dependence of the photoresponse. With increasing Ge thickness, the nanogap polarization of the photoresponse rotates 90 degrees, indicating a change in the dominant relevant plasmon mode, from the resonant transverse plasmon at low thicknesses to the nonresonant "lightning rod" mode at higher thicknesses. To understand the plasmon response in the presence…
Metal photoluminescence (MPL) originates from radiative recombination of photoexcited core holes and conduction band electrons. In metal nanostructures, MPL is enhanced due to the surface plasmon local field effect. We identify another essential process in plasmon-assisted MPL - excitation of Auger plasmons by core holes - that hinders MPL from small nanostructures. We develop a microscopic theory of plasmon-enhanced MPL that incorporates both plasmon-assisted enhancement and suppression mechanisms and derive the enhancement factor for MPL quantum efficiency. Our numerical calculations of MPL …
High-harmonic generation (HHG) in condensed-matter systems is both a source of fundamental insight into quantum electron motion and a promising candidate to realize compact ultraviolet and ultrafast light sources. Here we argue that the large light intensity required for this phenomenon to occur can be reached by exploiting localized plasmons in conducting nanostructures. In particular, we demonstrate that doped graphene nanostructures combine a strong plasmonic near-field enhancement and a pronounced intrinsic nonlinearity that result in efficient broadband HHG within a single material platfo…
The basis of low-temperature superconductivity has been set to be the pair formation of electrons, due to their effective attraction. The appearance of an effective attraction potential has also been predicted for electron-electron scattering in the presence of a strong, inhomogeneous radiation field. In the present work the strong electromagnetic fields were created by femtosecond Ti:Sa lasers, used to excite surface plasmons in gold films at room temperature, in the Kretschmann geometry. Experimental investigations were carried out using a surface plasmon near-field scanning tunneling micros…
We predict that graphene is a unique system where disorder-assisted scattering (supercollisions) dominates electron-lattice cooling over a wide range of temperatures, up to room temperature. This is so because for momentum-conserving electron-phonon scattering the energy transfer per collision is severely constrained due to a small Fermi surface size. The characteristic $T^3$ temperature dependence and power-law cooling dynamics provide clear experimental signatures of this new cooling mechanism. The cooling rate can be changed by orders of magnitude by varying the amount of disorder which off…
An efficient electro-optical modulation has been demonstrated here by using an edge plasmon mode specific for the hybrid plasmonic waveguide. Our approach addresses a major obstacle of the integrated microwave photonics caused by the polarization constraints of both active and passive components. In addition to sub-wavelength confinement, typical for surface plasmon polaritons, the edge plasmon modes enable exact matching of the polarization requirements for silicon based input/output grating couplers, waveguides and electro-optical modulators. A concept of the hybrid waveguide, implemented in…
Tho-photon absorption holds potential for many practical applications. We theoretically investigate the onset of this phenomenon in a semiconductor quantum dot -- metallic nanoshell composite subjected to a resonant CW excitation. Two-photon absorption in this system may occur in two ways: incoherent -- due to a consecutive ground-to-one-exciton-to-biexciton transition and coherent -- due to a coherent two-photon process, involving the direct ground-to-biexciton transition in the quantum dot. The presence of the nanoshell nearby the quantum dot gives rise to two principal effects: (i) -- renor…
The paper deals with the theoretical investigation of intrasubband plasmons in an array of quantum wires, consisting of a finite number of quantum wires, arranged at an equal distance from each other and placed into an external magnetic field. Two types of quantum wire array are under consideration: an ordered array of quantum wires with equal electron densities in all quantum wires and weakly disordered array of quantum wires, which is characterized by the fact that the density of electrons of one defect quantum wire was different from that of other quantum wires. For the ordered array of qua…
We propose a model accounting for plasmons within a two temperature description, to investigate the role of surface plasmon polaritons (SPP) in the energy redistribution between laser excited electrons and the lattice, leading to surface restructuring of the material. This energy transfer can lead to the creation of laser induced surface structures in metals illuminated by an ultrashort laser pulse. The Two Temperature Model + Plasmon (TTM+P) equations are constructed by applying perturbation theory on the energy-, momentum- and density conservation equations of free electrons in metals. We co…
We study a one-dimensional plasmonic system with non-trivial topology: a chain of metallic nanoparticles with alternating spacing, which is the plasmonic analogue to the Su-Schreiffer-Heeger model. We extend previous efforts by including long range hopping with retardation and radiative damping, which leads to a non-Hermitian Hamiltonian with frequency dependence. We calculate band structures numerically and show that topological features such as quantised Zak phase persist due to chiral symmetry. This predicts parameters leading to topologically protected edge modes, which allows for position…
Colloidal quantum dots have emerged as a versatile photoluminescent and optoelectronic material. Limitations like fluorescence intermittency, non-radiative Auger recombination and surface traps are commonly addressed by growing a wide-bandgap shell. However, the shell isolates the excitonic wave function and reduces its interaction with the external environment necessary for different applications. Furthermore, their long emission lifetime hinders their use in high-speed optoelectronics. Here, we demonstrate a high degree of control on the photophysics of a bare core CdTe quantum dot solely by…
Random impedance networks are widely used as a model to describe plasmon resonances in disordered metal-dielectric and other two-component nanocomposites. In the present work, the spectral properties of resonances in random networks are studied within the framework of the random matrix theory. We have shown that the appropriate ensemble of random matrices for the considered problem is the Jacobi ensemble (the MANOVA ensemble). The obtained analytical expressions for the density of states in such resonant networks show a good agreement with the results of numerical simulations in a wide range o…
In a ballistic two-dimensional electron gas, the Landau damping does not lead to plasmon attenuation in a broad interval of wave vectors q << k_F. Similarly, it does not contribute to the optical conductivity σ(ω, q) in a wide domain of its arguments, E_F > ω> qv_F, where E_F, k_F and v_F are, respectively, the Fermi energy, wavevector and velocity of the electrons. We identify processes that result in the plasmon attenuation in the absence of Landau damping. These processes are: the excitation of two electron-hole pairs, phonon-assisted excitation of one pair, and a direct plasmon-phonon conv…
Electrically tunable graphene plasmons are anticipated to enable strong light-matter interactions with resonant quantum emitters. However, plasmon resonances in graphene are typically limited to infrared frequencies, below those of optical excitations in robust quantum light sources and many biologically interesting molecules. Here we propose to utilize near fields generated by the plasmon-assisted nonlinear optical response of nanostructured graphene to resonantly couple with proximal quantum emitters operating in the near-infrared. We show that the nonlinear near-field produced by a graphene…
We investigate the contribution of charge puddles to the non-vanishing conductivity minimum in disordered graphene flakes at the charge neutrality point. For that purpose, we study systems with a geometry that suppresses the transmission due to evanescent modes allowing to single out the effect of charge fluctuations in the transport properties. We use the recursive Green's functions technique to obtain local and total transmissions through systems that mimic vanishing density of states at the charge neutrality point in the presence of a local disordered local potential to model the charge pud…
Random impedance networks are widely used as a model to describe plasmon resonances in disordered metal-dielectric nanocomposites. In order to study thin films, two-dimensional networks are often used despite the fact that such networks correspond to a two-dimensional electrodynamics [J.P. Clerc et al, J. Phys. A 29, 4781 (1996)]. In the present work, we propose a model of two-dimensional systems with three-dimensional Coulomb interaction and show that this model is equivalent to a planar network with long-range capacitive connections between sites. In a case of a metal film, we get a known di…
We theoretically consider the effect of plasmon collective modes on the frequency-dependent conductivity of graphene in the presence of the random static potential of charged impurities. We develop an equation of motion approach suitable for the relativistic Dirac electrons in graphene that allows analytical high-frequency asymptotic solution in the presence of both disorder and interaction. We show that the presence of the acoustic plasmon pole (i.e. the plasmon frequency vanishing at long wavelengths as the square-root of wavevector) in the inverse dynamical dielectric function of graphene g…
We develop a unified theory of plasmon-assisted resonance energy transfer (RET) between molecules near a metal nanostructure that maintains energy balance between transfer, dissipation, and radiation. We show that in a wide range of parameters, including in the near field, RET is dominated by plasmon-enhanced radiative transfer (PERT) rather than by a nonradiative transfer mechanism. Our numerical calculations performed for molecules near the Ag nanoparticle indicate that RET magnitude is highly sensitive to molecules' positions.
Majorana zero modes in one-dimensional topological superconductors obey non-Abelian braiding statistics. Braiding manipulations can be realized by controlling Coulomb couplings in hybrid Majorana-transmon devices. However, strong disorder may induce accidental Majorana modes, which are expected to have detrimental effects on braiding statistics. Nevertheless, we show that the Coulomb-assisted braiding protocol is efficiently realized also in the presence of accidental modes. The errors occurring during the braiding cycle are small if the couplings of the computational Majorana modes to the acc…
To study the effect of disorder on quantum phase slips (QPS) in superconducting wires, we consider the plasmon-only model where disorder can be incorporated into a first-principles instanton calculation. We consider weak but general finite-range disorder and compute the formfactor in the QPS rate associated with momentum transfer. We find that the system maps onto dissipative quantum mechanics, with the dissipative coefficient controlled by the wave (plasmon) impedance Z of the wire and with a superconductor-insulator transition at Z=6.5 kOhm. We speculate that the system will remain in this u…
The excitation spectrum and the collective modes of graphene antidot lattices (GALs) are studied in the context of a $π$-band tight-binding model. The dynamical polarizability and dielectric function are calculated within the random phase approximation. The effect of different kinds of disorder, such as geometric and chemical disorder, are included in our calculations. We highlight the main differences of GALs with respect to single-layer graphene (SLG). Our results show that, in addition to the well-understood bulk plasmon in doped samples, inter-band plasmons appear in GALs. We further show …
The current voltage (IV) characteristics for perpendicular transport through two sequentially coupled wires of finite length is calculated analytically. The transport within a Coulomb blockade step is assisted by plasmon resonances that appear as steps in the IV characteristics with positions and heights depending on inter- and intrawire interactions. In particular, due to the interwire interactions, the peak positions shift to lower voltages in comparison to the noninteracting wires which reflects the facilitation of current by interactions. The interwire interactions are also found to enhanc…
We obtain the local density of states (LDOS) for any nanoplasmonic system in the frequency range dominated by a localized surface plasmon. By including the Ohmic losses in a consistent way, we show that the plasmon LDOS is proportional to the local field intensity normalized by the absorbed power. We obtain explicit formulas for the energy transfer (ET) between quantum emitters and plasmons as well as between donors and acceptors situated near a plasmonic structure. In the latter case, we find that the plasmon-assisted ET rate is proportional to the LDOS product at the donor and acceptor posit…
Dirac Fermion, which is the low energy collective excitation near the Dirac cone in monolayer graphene, have gained great attention by low energy Terahertz probe. In the case of undoped graphene, it has been generally understood that the ultrafast terahertz thermal relaxation is mostly driven by the electron-phonon coupling (EOP), which can be prolonged to tens and hundreds of picoseconds. However, for the high doped graphene, which manifests the negative photoinduced terahertz conductivity, there is still no consensus on the dominant aspects of the cooling process on a time scale of a few pic…
Understanding the interplay between disorder, environment and interactions is key to elucidating the transport properties of open quantum systems, from excitons in photosynthetic networks to qubits in ion traps. This interplay is studied here theoretically in the context of environment-assisted quantum transport (ENAQT), a unique situation in open system where an environment-induced dephasing can, counter-intuitively, enhance transport. First, we show a surprising situation where the particle current grows with increasing disorder, even without dephasing. Then, we suggest a specific mechanism …
We evaluate the rate of energy loss of a plasmon in a disorder-free carbon nanotube. The plasmon decays into neutral bosonic excitations of the electron liquid. The process is mediated either by phonon-assisted backscattering of a single electron, or Umklapp backscattering of two electrons. To lowest order in the backscattering interactions the partial decay rates are additive. At zero doping the corresponding decay rates scale as power-laws of the temperature with positive and negative exponents for the two mechanisms, respectively. The precise values of the exponents depend on the Luttinger …
The electric conductance of a strip of undoped graphene increases in the presence of a disorder potential, which is smooth on atomic scales. The phenomenon is attributed to impurity-assisted resonant tunneling of massless Dirac fermions. Employing the transfer matrix approach we demonstrate the resonant character of the conductivity enhancement in the presence of a single impurity. We also calculate the two-terminal conductivity for the model with one-dimensional fluctuations of disorder potential by a mapping onto a problem of Anderson localization.
We describe the process of Foerster transfer between semiconductor nanoparticles in the presence of a metal subsystem (metal nanocrystals). In the presence of metal nanocrystals, the Foerster process can become faster and more long-range. The enhancement of Foerster transfer occurs due to the effect of plasmon-assisted amplification of electric fields inside the nanoscale assembly. Simultaneously, metal nanocrystals lead to an increase of energy losses during the Foerster transfer process. We derive convenient equations for the energy transfer rates, photoluminescence intensities, and energy d…
One-dimensional quantum emitters with chiral couplings can exhibit nonreciprocal decay channels, along with light-induced dipole-dipole interactions mediated via an atom-waveguide interface. When the position disorders are introduced to such atomic array, we are able to identify the dynamical phase transition from excitation delocalization to localization, with an interplay between the directionality of decay rates and the strength of light-induced dipole-dipole interactions. Deep in the localization phase, its characteristic length decreases and saturates toward a reciprocal coupling regime, …
We investigate in a fully quantum-mechanical manner how the many-body excitation spectrum of topological insulators is affected by the presence of long-range Coulomb interactions. In the one-dimensional Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model and its mirror-symmetric variant strongly localized plasmonic excitations are observed which originate from topologically non-trivial single-particle states. These \textit{"topological plasmons"} inherit some of the characteristics of their constituent topological single-particle states, but they are not equally well protected against disorder due to the admixture of …
Plasmon decay via the surface or interface is a critical process for practical energy conversion and plasmonic catalysis. However, the relationship between plasmon damping and the coupling between the plasmon and 2D materials is still unclear. The spectral splitting due to plasmon-exciton interaction impedes the conventional single-particle method to evaluate the plasmon damping rate by the spectral linewidth directly. Here, we investigated the interaction between a single gold nanorod (GNR) and 2D materials using the single-particle spectroscopy method assisted with in situ nanomanipulation t…
Here we present the theoretical foundation of the strong coupling phenomenon between quantum emitters and propagating surface plasmons observed in two-dimensional metal surfaces. For that purpose, we develop an ab-initio quantum framework that accounts for the coherent coupling be- tween emitters and surface plasmons and incorporates the presence of dissipation and dephasing. For both a single emitter and a disordered ensemble of emitters, our formalism is able to reveal the key physical mechanisms that explain the reported phenomenology and also to determine the physical parameters that optim…