Mechanically reconfigurable architectured graphene for tunable plasmonic resonances

Abstract

Graphene nanostructures with complex geometries have been widely explored for plasmonic applications, as their plasmonic resonances exhibit high spatial confinement and gate tunability. However, edge effects in graphene and the narrow range over which plasmonic resonances can be tuned have limited the use of graphene in optical and optoelectronic applications. Here we present a novel approach to achieve mechanically reconfigurable and strongly resonant plasmonic structures based on crumpled graphene. Our calculations show that mechanical reconfiguration of crumpled graphene structures enables broad spectral tunability for plasmonic resonances from mid- to near-infrared, acting as a new tuning knob combined with conventional electrostatic gating. Furthermore, a continuous sheet of crumpled graphene shows strong confinement of plasmons, with a high near-field intensity enhancement of ~1 × 104. Finally, decay rates for a dipole emitter are significantly enhanced in the proximity of finite-area biaxially crumpled graphene flakes. Our findings indicate that crumpled graphene provides a platform to engineer graphene-based plasmonics through broadband manipulation of strong plasmonic resonances.

Strain engineering of 2D semiconductors and graphene: from strain fields to band-structure tuning and photonic applications

“…Transferring 2D materials onto prestrained flexible elastomeric substrates (a relatively simple and broadly used method) provides a means of introducing inhomogeneous local strains into any type of 2D materials 41,[122][123][124] . The working principle is illustrated in Fig.…”

The MoSeS dynamic omnigami paradigm for smart shape and composition programmable 2D materials

“…Building on the fundamental features of composition shape programming in TMD monolayers outlined here, designs for shapes with targeted electronic, photonic, mechanical, and chemical properties can be created. These may include compliant corrugated designs for use in flexible electronics 46,49,73 , self-enclosing designs for storage and delivery of pharmaceuticals, soft robotics 44 , high surface area corrugated/crumpled monolayers for use in optical metasurfaces, light harvesting, and catalysis 24,74 , monolayers with geometric features designed for hydrophobic, hydrophilic, or omniphobic properties 74 , nanoplasmonic devices and sensors 47,55 , photodetectors 48 , and templates for selective self-assembly of molecules and nanoclusters 75 .…”

“…To date, 3D feature generation involving inorganic 2D materials 42 , with thicknesses 1–10 nm, has largely been explored using thicker composite bilayers or bimetallic strips 43–45 , mechanical self-assembly/buckling-based approaches (e.g., patterned sheets on thicker prestrained deformable substrates 46–49 ), and cut-and-deform/kirigami approaches 50,51 . Quasi-2D materials with novel thermal 52,53 , mechanical 54 , optical 55,56 , and electronic 57,58 properties have thus been produced. However, programmed atomic scale 3D features are not readily realized with such approaches.…”

Tunable Ultra‐High Q‐Factor and Figure of Merit based on Fano Resonance in Graphene–Dielectric Multilayer Corrugated Structure

“…The resonant properties in monolayer crumpled graphene structures have been discussed in literature. [13][14][15] For etched insulator silicon grating structure covered by monolayer graphene, the excitation of highly confined plasmonic waves was studied by Gao et al [16] However, the Q-factor of such structure is only about 40. For the similar graphene-dielectric structure, Zhao et al [17] introduced an insulator between the silicon grating and graphene film, and noticed that the graphenegrating hybrid structure has a Q-factor (≈66) and a sharp notch in mid-infrared region of its transmission spectra.…”