Yuling Guan | Searcharxiv

arXiv2022

Plasmons in Z2 Topological Insulators

We study plasmonic excitations in the Kane-Mele model, a two-dimensional Z2 topological insulator on the honeycomb lattice, using the random phase approximation (RPA). In the topologically non-trivial phase, the model has conducting edge states that traverse the bulk energy gap and display spin-momentum-locking. Such a state of matter is called the quantum spin hall (QSH) phase, which is robust against time-reversal (TR) invariant perturbations. We find that in the QSH phase, gapless spin-polarized plasmons can be excited on the edges of the system. The propagation of these plasmons is chiral for each individual spin component and shows spin-momentum-locking for both spin components on the same edge. Moreover, we study the effect of external magnetic fields on the gapless edge plasmons. Specifically, out-of-plane magnetic fields delocalize edge plasmons propagating in one direction without affecting the other one, while an in-plane magnetic field can be applied to selectively excite a specific spin-plasmon branch with proper doping or gating to the system. Our findings may have potential applications in novel plasmonic and spintronic devices. We also investigate plasmons in the Kane-Mele model on a finite-sized diamond-shaped nanoflake and observe low-energy plasmons circulating the boundary of the material.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2021

Control of Plasmons in Topological Insulators via Local Perturbations

We use a fully quantum mechanical approach to demonstrate control of plasmonic excitations in prototype models of topological insulators by molecule-scale perturbations. Strongly localized surface plasmons are present in the host systems, arising from the topologically non-trivial single-particle edge states. A numerical evaluation of the RPA equations for the perturbed systems reveals how the positions and the internal electronic structure of the added molecules affect the degeneracy of the locally confined collective excitations, i.e., shifting the plasmonic energies of the host system and changing their spatial charge density profile. In particular, we identify conditions under which significant charge transfer from the host system to the added molecules occurs. Furthermore, the induced field energy density in the perturbed topological systems due to external electric fields is determined.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗