Plasmon Excitations Across the Charge-Density-Wave Transition in Single-Layer TiSe$_2$

Abstract

$1T$-TiSe$_2$ is believed to posses a soft electronic mode, i.e., plasmon or exciton, that might be responsible for the exciton condensation and charge-density-wave (CDW) transition. Here, we explore collective electronic excitations in single-layer $1T$-TiSe$_2$ by using the ab-initio electromagnetic linear response and unveil intricate scattering pathways of two-dimensional (2D) plasmon mode near the CDW phase. We found the dominant role of plasmon-phonon scattering, which in combination with the CDW gap excitations leads to the anomalous temperature dependence of the plasmon linewidth across the CDW transition. Below the transition temperature $T_{\rm CDW}$ a strong hybridization between 2D plasmon and CDW excitations is obtained. These optical features are highly tunable due to temperature-dependent CDW-related modifications of electronic structure and electron-phonon coupling and make CDW-bearing systems potentially interesting for applications in optoelectronics and low-loss plasmonics.