Splashing transients of 2D plasmons launched by swift electrons

• Main Authors: Shi, Xihang (Author), Gao, Fei (Author), Yang, Zhaoju (Author), Gao, Zhen (Author), Lin, Xiao (Contributor), Kaminer, Ido Efraim (Contributor), Buljan, Hrvoje (Contributor), Joannopoulos, John (Contributor), Soljacic, Marin (Contributor), Chen, Hongsheng (Contributor), Zhang, Baile (Contributor)
• Other Authors: Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART) (Contributor), Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (Contributor), Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics (Contributor)
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), 2017-05-31T15:17:55Z.
• Subjects: Article
• Online Access: Get fulltext

Launching of plasmons by swift electrons has long been used in electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS) to investigate the plasmonic properties of ultrathin, or two-dimensional (2D), electron systems. However, the question of how a swift electron generates plasmons in space and time has never been answered. We address this issue by calculating and demonstrating the spatial-temporal dynamics of 2D plasmon generation in graphene. We predict a jet-like rise of excessive charge concentration that delays the generation of 2D plasmons in EELS, exhibiting an analog to the hydrodynamic Rayleigh jet in a splashing phenomenon before the launching of ripples. The photon radiation, analogous to the splashing sound, accompanies the plasmon emission and can be understood as being shaken off by the Rayleigh jet-like charge concentration. Considering this newly revealed process, we argue that previous estimates on the yields of graphene plasmons in EELS need to be reevaluated.
National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 61625502)
National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 61574127)
National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 61601408)
National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 61550110245)
Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province (grant no. LY17F010008)
Postdoctoral Science Foundation of China (grant no. 2015M581930)
Top-Notch Young Talents Program of China
Innovation Joint Research Center for Cyber-Physical-Society System
Nanyang Technological University (Nanyang Assistant Professorship Start-Up Grant)
Singapore. Ministry of Education (grant no. MOE2015-T2-1-070)
Singapore. Ministry of Education (grant no. OE2011-T3-1-005)
United States. Army Research Office. Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies (contract no. W911NF-13-D-0001)
United States. Department of Energy. Office of Science. Solid-State Solar Thermal Energy Conversion Center (grant no. de-sc0001299)
QuantiXLie Center of Excellence
Chinese Scholarship Council (CSC 201506320075).