Highly Efficient Midinfrared On-Chip Electrical Generation of Graphene Plasmons by Inelastic Electron Tunneling Excitation

TL;DR

This paper theoretically demonstrates that graphene-based tunnel junctions can efficiently generate midinfrared plasmons electrically, outperforming traditional metals and enabling advanced on-chip optoelectronic applications.

Contribution

It introduces a theoretical analysis showing graphene's superior efficiency in tunneling excitation of plasmons compared to metals, highlighting its potential for integrated nanophotonics.

Findings

Graphene exhibits up to 10 times higher enhancement than gold and silver.

Tunneling excitation of graphene plasmons is highly tunable in the midinfrared range.

Potential for efficient on-chip electrical plasmon generation and manipulation.

Abstract

Inelastic electron tunneling provides a low-energy pathway for the excitation of surface plasmons and light emission. We theoretically investigate tunnel junctions based on metals and graphene. We show that graphene is potentially a highly efficient material for tunneling excitation of plasmons because of its narrow plasmon linewidths, strong emission, and large tunability in the midinfrared wavelength regime. Compared to gold and silver, the enhancement can be up to 10 times for similar wavelengths and up to 5 orders at their respective plasmon operating wavelengths. Tunneling excitation of graphene plasmons promises an efficient technology for on-chip electrical generation and manipulation of plasmons for graphene-based optoelectronics and nanophotonic integrated circuits.