# Band structure engineered layered metals for low-loss plasmonics

## TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that layered metals like TaS$_2$ can significantly reduce optical losses in plasmonics due to their unique electronic band structures, enabling better performance in waveguiding and transformation optics.

## Contribution

It introduces a new class of band structure engineered layered metals with suppressed intrinsic losses for low-loss plasmonic applications.

## Key findings

- Reduced Ohmic losses in layered metals like TaS$_2$
- Enhanced performance in thin film waveguiding
- Potential for improved transformation optics

## Abstract

Plasmonics currently faces the problem of seemingly inevitable optical losses occurring in the metallic components that challenges the implementation of essentially any application. In this work we show that Ohmic losses are reduced in certain layered metals, such as the transition metal dichalcogenide TaS$_2$, due to an extraordinarily small density of states for scattering in the near-IR originating from their special electronic band structure. Based on this observation we propose a new class of band structure engineered van der Waals layered metals composed of hexagonal transition metal chalcogenide-halide layers with greatly suppressed intrinsic losses. Using first-principles calculations we show that the suppression of optical losses lead to improved performance for thin film waveguiding and transformation optics.