Ultrafast plasmonic processes in atomically thin materials

Atomically thin materials such as graphene and other 2D crystals exhibits unique electrical, optical, and thermal properties that are a continuous source of unexpected phenomena. In this colloquim, I will review recent advances in the field of graphene nanophotonics, including the following results obtained by my group: the design and realistic description of a new class of random metamaterials incorporating optical gain and displaying a varied photonic behaviour ranging from stable lasing to chaotic regimes [1]; a new strategy for molecular sensing that relies on the strong plasmon-driven nonlinearity of nanographenes [2]; a scenario in which radiative heat transfer is the fastest cooling mechanism, even beating relaxation to phonons [3]; and the generation of intense high harmonics from graphene, assisted by its plasmons [4]. These results constitute examples that extend ultrafast optical phenomena in new directions with strong potential for technological applications.

[1] A. Marini and F. J. García de Abajo, "Graphene-based active random metamaterial for cavity-free lasing," Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, 217401 (2016).
[2] R. Yu, J. D. Cox, and F. J. García de Abajo, "Nonlinear plasmonic sensing with nanographene," Phys. Rev. Lett. 117, 123904 (2016).
[3] R. Yu, A. Manjavacas, and F. J. García de Abajo, "Ultrafast radiative heat transfer," arXiv:1608.05767.
[4] J. D. Cox, A. Marini, and F. J. García de Abajo, "Plasmon-assisted high-harmonic generation in graphene," arXiv:1609.09794.