Light-matter interaction in the flatland: recent advances and novel applications
Denis Bandurin
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National University of Singapore
Since the first isolation of graphene, devices based on novel low-dimensional materials (LDM) and their heterostructures
have become a gold mine for exploring new fundamental phenomena. Reduced dimensionality, peculiar band structures,
quantum geometry, and strong quasiparticle interactions in a unique way determine the response of LDM to external fields
thereby offering a powerful setting by which to probe novel radiation-matter interaction effects and prototype future
optoelectronic technology.
In the first part of my talk, we will discuss light-matter interaction effects arising in LDM due to the excitation of plasmons. I
will present our recent results on the quasi-relativistic Fizeau drag effect [1]. Predicted by Fresnel in the XIX century and
demonstrated by Fizeau, dragging of light by the flow of water was among the cornerstones of Einstein’s special relativity.
Our experiments on graphene materialized the electronic version of this fundamental effect in which the flow of electrons
on par with the moving medium was found to alter the surface plasmon polaritons (SPP) dispersion (Fig. 1). The importance
of the observed plasmonic Fizeau drag is that it enables breaking of time-reversal symmetry and reciprocity at infrared
frequencies without resorting to magnetic fields or chiral optical pumping. Next, we will discuss peculiar effects arising in
graphene plasmonics when the latter is subjected to a perpendicular magnetic field. I will show that graphene supports the
propagation of slow Bernstein collective modes whose diverging density of plasmonic states results in strong
magnetoabsorption at THz frequencies [2]. We will also discuss prospects of using devices made of LDM for sensitive THz
detection [3-5].
Fig. 1. Fizeau drag in graphene plasmonics. a, Schematic of a graphene device with a constricted channel.
Under the illumination of an infrared laser, the gold launcher excites propagating SPPs, which were visualized by
near-field tip-based imaging techniques. Black streamlines represent carrier drift directions. b, SPP line profiles
without d.c. current (black) and with Jdc = 0.69 mA μm−1 (blue), illustrating a reduction of the SPP wavelength. Taken
from [1].
In the second part of my talk, I will show that with a proper processing, atomically thin high-temperature cuprate
superconductors can be used in single-photon detection technology. We will discuss how to fabricate superconducting
nanowires out of thin flakes of Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ (BSCCO) and La1.55Sr0.45CuO4/La2CuO4 (LSCO-LCO) bilayer films and then,
look at their response to visible and infrared light. I will show, that both materials feature single-photon operation above
liquid helium temperature as revealed through the linear scaling of the photon count rate on the radiation power. For the
BSCCO detectors, we observed single-photon sensitivity at the technologically important 1.5 μm telecommunications
wavelength up to 25 K [6].
[1] Fizeau drag in graphene plasmonics. Y. Dong, L. Xiong, I.Y. Phinney, Z. Sun, R. Jing, A.S. McLeod, S. Zhang, S. Liu, F.L. Ruta, H.
Gao, Z. Dong, R. Pan, J.H. Edgar, P. Jarillo-Herrero, L.S. Levitov, A.J.Millis, M.M Fogler, D.A. Bandurin, D.N. Basov; Nature 594, 513–
516 (2021).
[2] Cyclotron resonance overtones and near-field magnetoabsorption via terahertz Bernstein modes in graphene; D.A. Bandurin, E.
Mönch, K. Kapralov, I.Y. Phinney, K. Lindner, S. Liu, J.H. Edgar, I.A. Dmitriev, P. Jarillo-Herrero, D. Svintsov, S.D. Ganichev; Nature
Physics 18, 462–467 (2022).
[3] Tunnel-field effect transistors for sensitive terahertz detection; I. Gayduchenko, S. G. Xu, G. Alymov, M. Moskotin, I. Tretyakov, T.
Taniguchi, K. Watanabe, G. Goltsman, A. K. Geim, G. Fedorov, D. Svintsov, D. A. Bandurin, Nature Communications 12, 543 (2021).
[4] Resonant terahertz detection using graphene plasmons; D. A. Bandurin, D. Svintsov, I. Gayduchenko, S. G. Xu, A. Principi, M.
Moskotin, I. Tretyakov, D. Yagodkin, S. Zhukov, T. Taniguchi, K. Watanabe, I. V. Grigorieva, M. Polini, G. Goltsman, A. K. Geim, G.
Fedorov, Nature Communications 9, 5392 (2018).
[5] Ultralow-noise Terahertz Detection by p–n Junctions in Gapped Bilayer Graphene, E. Titova, D. Mylnikov, M. Kashchenko, I. Safonov,
S. Zhukov, K. Dzhikirba, K. S. Novoselov, D. A. Bandurin, G. Alymov, and D. Svintsov, ACS Nano 17, 8223-8232 (2023).
[6] Single-photon detection using high-temperature superconductors; I. Charaev, D.A. Bandurin, A.T. Bollinger, I.Y. Phinney, I. Drozdov,
M. Colangelo, B.A. Butters, T. Taniguchi, K.Watanabe, X. He, I. Božović, P. Jarillo-Herrero, K.K. Berggren, Nature Nanotechnology 18,
343–349 (2023).