arXiv subjects

Alejandro Manjavacas

Publications and source records attributed to Alejandro Manjavacas.

24 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2013

Plasmons Driven by Single Electrons in Graphene Nanoislands

Plasmons produce large confinement and enhancement of light that enable applications as varied as cancer therapy and catalysis. Adding to these appealing properties, graphene has emerged as a robust, electrically tunable material exhibiting plasmons that strongly depend on the density of doping charges. Here we show that adding a single electron to a graphene nanoisland consisting of hundreds or thousands of atoms switches on infrared plasmons that were previously absent from the uncharged structure. Remarkably, the addition of each further electron produces a dramatic frequency shift. Plasmons in these islands are shown to be tunable down to near infrared wavelengths. These phenomena are highly sensitive to carbon edges. Specifically, armchair nanotriangles display sharp plasmons that are associated with intense near-field enhancement, as well as absorption cross-sections exceeding the geometrical area occupied by the graphene. In contrast, zigzag triangles do not support these plasmons. Our conclusions rely on realistic quantum-mechanical calculations, which are in ostensible disagreement with classical electromagnetic simulations, thus revealing the quantum nature of the plasmons. This study shows a high sensitivity of graphene nanoislands to elementary charges, therefore emphasizing their great potential for novel nano-optoelectronics applications.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2013

Quantum Junction Plasmons in Graphene Dimers

The interaction between doped graphene nanoislands connected by narrow junctions constitutes an ideal testbed to probe quantum effects in plasmonic systems. Here, the interaction between graphene plasmons in neighboring nanoislands is predicted to be extremely sensitive to the size and shape of the junctions. The reported {\it ab initio} calculations reveal three different regimes of interaction: (1) for narrow bridges ($<4$ carbon-atom rows), the conductance of the junction is too low to allow electron transport and the optical response is dominated by a characteristic bonding dipolar dimer mode that also appears in a classical description; (2) for wider junctions (4-8 carbon rows), a strong charge polarization is induced across the junction, which gives rise to a novel {\it junction plasmon} that has no counterpart in a classical description; (3) for even wider junctions ($\ge8$ rows), their conductance is sufficiently large to allow charge transport between the two graphene islands, resulting in a pronounced charge-transfer plasmon, which can also be described classically. This work opens a new path for the investigation of intrinsic plasmon quantum effects.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2012

Rotational Quantum Friction

We investigate the frictional forces due to quantum fluctuations acting on a small sphere rotating near a surface. At zero temperature, we find the frictional force near a surface to be several orders of magnitude larger than that for the sphere rotating in vacuum. For metallic materials with typical conductivity, quantum friction is maximized by matching the frequency of rotation with the conductivity. Materials with poor conductivity are favored to obtain large quantum frictions. For semiconductor materials that are able to support surface plasmon polaritons, quantum friction can be further enhanced by several orders of magnitude due to the excitation of surface plasmon polaritons.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2012

Temporal Quantum Control with Graphene

We introduce a novel strategy for controlling the temporal evolution of a quantum system at the nanoscale. Our method relies on the use of graphene plasmons, which can be electrically tuned in frequency by external gates. Quantum emitters (e.g., quantum dots) placed in the vicinity of a graphene nanostructure are subject to the strong interaction with the plasmons of this material, thus undergoing time variations in their mutual interaction and quantum evolution that are dictated by the externally applied gating voltages. This scheme opens a new path towards the realization of quantum-optics devices in the robust solid-state environment of graphene.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2012

Radiative Heat Transfer between Neighboring Particles

The near-field interaction between two neighboring particles is known to produce enhanced radiative heat transfer. We advance in the understanding of this phenomenon by including the full electromagnetic particle response, heat exchange with the environment, and important radiative corrections both in the distance dependence of the fields and in the particle absorption coefficients. We find that crossed terms of electric and magnetic interactions dominate the transfer rate between gold and SiC particles, whereas radiative corrections reduce it by several orders of magnitude even at small separations. Radiation away from the dimer can be strongly suppressed or enhanced at low and high temperatures, respectively. These effects must be taken into account for an accurate description of radiative heat transfer in nanostructured environments.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2011

Stimulated light emission and inelastic scattering by a classical linear system of rotating particles

The rotational dynamics of particles subject to external illumination is found to produce light amplification and inelastic scattering at high rotation velocities. Light emission at frequencies shifted with respect to the incident light by twice the rotation frequency dominates over elastic scattering within a wide range of light and rotation frequencies. Remarkably, net amplification of the incident light is produced in this classical linear system via stimulated emission. Large optically-induced acceleration rates are predicted in vacuum accompanied by moderate heating of the particle, thus supporting the possibility of observing these effects under extreme rotation conditions.

quant-ph↗