Tunable Plasmonic Reflection by Bound 1D Electron States in a 2D Dirac Metal

Phys Rev Lett. 2016 Aug 19;117(8):086801. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.117.086801. Epub 2016 Aug 15.

Abstract

We show that the surface plasmons of a two-dimensional Dirac metal such as graphene can be reflected by linelike perturbations hosting one-dimensional electron states. The reflection originates from a strong enhancement of the local optical conductivity caused by optical transitions involving these bound states. We propose that the bound states can be systematically created, controlled, and liquidated by an ultranarrow electrostatic gate. Using infrared nanoimaging, we obtain experimental evidence for the locally enhanced conductivity of graphene induced by a carbon nanotube gate, which supports this theoretical concept.