Excitation of surface plasmons in graphene-coated nanowire arrays

We report a naturally-occurring two-dimensional material (graphene that can be viewed as a gigantic flat fullerene molecule, describe its electronic properties and demonstrate all-metallic field-effect transistor, which uniquely exhibits ballistic transport at submicron distances even at room temperature.

Graphene is a rapidly rising star on the horizon of materials science and condensed matter physics. This strictly two-dimensional material exhibits exceptionally high crystal and electronic quality and, despite its short history, has already revealed a cornucopia of new physics and potential applications, which are briefly discussed here. Whereas one can be certain of the realness of applications only when commercial products appear, graphene no longer requires any further proof of its importance in terms of fundamental physics. Owing to its unusual electronic spectrum, graphene has led to the emergence of a new paradigm of 'relativistic' condensed matter physics, where quantum relativistic phenomena, some of which are unobservable in high energy physics, can now be mimicked and tested in table-top experiments. More generally, graphene represents a conceptually new class of materials that are only one atom thick and, on this basis, offers new inroads into low-dimensional physics that has never ceased to surprise and continues to provide a fertile ground for applications.

Plasmons describe collective oscillations of electrons. They have a fundamental role in the dynamic responses of electron systems and form the basis of research into optical metamaterials. Plasmons of two-dimensional massless electrons, as present in graphene, show unusual behaviour that enables new tunable plasmonic metamaterials and, potentially, optoelectronic applications in the terahertz frequency range. Here we explore plasmon excitations in engineered graphene micro-ribbon arrays. We demonstrate that graphene plasmon resonances can be tuned over a broad terahertz frequency range by changing micro-ribbon width and in situ electrostatic doping. The ribbon width and carrier doping dependences of graphene plasmon frequency demonstrate power-law behaviour characteristic of two-dimensional massless Dirac electrons. The plasmon resonances have remarkably large oscillator strengths, resulting in prominent room-temperature optical absorption peaks. In comparison, plasmon absorption in a conventional two-dimensional electron gas was observed only at 4.2 K (refs 13, 14). The results represent a first look at light-plasmon coupling in graphene and point to potential graphene-based terahertz metamaterials.