Efficient Fizeau drag from Dirac electrons in monolayer graphene

Wenyu Zhao, Sihan Zhao, Hongyuan Li, Sheng Wang, Shaoxin Wang, M. Iqbal Bakti Utama, Salman Kahn, Yue Jiang, Xiao Xiao, SeokJae Yoo, Kenji Watanabe, Takashi Taniguchi, Alex Zettl and Feng Wang ()
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Wenyu Zhao: University of California, Berkeley
Sihan Zhao: University of California, Berkeley
Hongyuan Li: University of California, Berkeley
Sheng Wang: University of California, Berkeley
Shaoxin Wang: University of California, Berkeley
M. Iqbal Bakti Utama: University of California, Berkeley
Salman Kahn: University of California, Berkeley
Yue Jiang: University of California, Berkeley
Xiao Xiao: University of California, Berkeley
SeokJae Yoo: University of California, Berkeley
Kenji Watanabe: National Institute for Materials Science
Takashi Taniguchi: National Institute for Materials Science
Alex Zettl: University of California, Berkeley
Feng Wang: University of California, Berkeley

Nature, 2021, vol. 594, issue 7864, 517-521

Abstract: Abstract Fizeau demonstrated in 1850 that the speed of light can be modified when it is propagating in moving media1. However, such control of the light speed has not been achieved efficiently with a fast-moving electron media by passing an electrical current. Because the strong electromagnetic coupling between the electron and light leads to the collective excitation of plasmon polaritons, it is hypothesized that Fizeau drag in electron flow systems manifests as a plasmonic Doppler effect. Experimental observation of the plasmonic Doppler effect in electronic systems has been challenge because the plasmon propagation speed is much faster than the electron drift velocity in conventional noble metals. Here we report direct observation of Fizeau drag of plasmon polaritons in strongly biased monolayer graphene by exploiting the high electron mobility and the slow plasmon propagation of massless Dirac electrons. The large bias current in graphene creates a fast-drifting Dirac electron medium hosting the plasmon polariton. This results in non-reciprocal plasmon propagation, where plasmons moving with the drifting electron media propagate at an enhanced speed. We measure the Doppler-shifted plasmon wavelength using cryogenic near-field infrared nanoscopy, which directly images the plasmon polariton mode in the biased graphene at low temperature. We observe a plasmon wavelength difference of up to 3.6 per cent between a plasmon moving with and a plasmon moving against the drifting electron media. Our findings on the plasmonic Doppler effect provide opportunities for electrical control of non-reciprocal surface plasmon polaritons in non-equilibrium systems.

Date: 2021
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-03574-4

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