Plasmon dissipation in gapped-graphene open systems at finite temperature

Abstract

Numerical and closed-form analytic expressions for plasmon dispersion relations and rates of dissipation are first obtained at finite-temperatures for free-standing gapped graphene. These closed-system results are generalized to an open system with Coulomb coupling of graphene electrons to an external electron reservoir. New plasmon modes, as well as new plasmon dissipation channels, are found in this open system, including significant modifications arising from the combined effect of thermal excitation of electrons and an energy bandgap in gapped graphene. Moreover, the characteristics of the new plasmon mode and the additional plasmon dissipation may be fully controlled by adjusting the separation between the graphene layer from the surface of a thick conductor. Numerical results for the thermal shift of plasmon frequency in a doped gapped graphene layer, along with its sensitivity to the local environment, are demonstrated and analyzed. Such phenomenon associated with the frequency shift of plasmons may be applied to direct optical measurement of local electron temperature in transistors and nanoplasmonic structures.