Low-Loss Charge Transfer Plasmons in Graphene/α-RuCl3 Heterostructures Below 40 K

Zhou, Boyi; Jing, Ran; Zheng, Wenjun; Chen, Xinzhong; Sun, Jiacheng; Zhou, Zijian; Wang, Heng; Wehmeier, Lukas; Song, Erdong; Cheng, Bing; Dong, Yinan; Cothrine, Matthew; Mandrus, David; Carr, G. L.; Du, Xu; Henriksen, Erik A.; Basov, D. N.; Liu, Mengkun

doi:10.1021/acsphotonics.5c00296

Low-Loss Charge Transfer Plasmons in Graphene/α-RuCl₃ Heterostructures Below 40 K

Journal Article · Fri Jun 06 00:00:00 EDT 2025 · ACS Photonics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/acsphotonics.5c00296· OSTI ID:2570247

^[1]; Jing, Ran ^[2]; Zheng, Wenjun ^[3]; ^[1]; Sun, Jiacheng ^[3]; Zhou, Zijian ^[3]; Wang, Heng ^[3]; ^[4]; Song, Erdong ^[5]; ^[3]; Dong, Yinan ^[6]; Cothrine, Matthew ^[7]; ^[8]; Carr, G. L. ^[4]; ^[3]; ^[5]; Basov, D. N. ^[6]; Liu, Mengkun ^[9]

Stony Brook Univ., NY (United States); Columbia Univ., New York, NY (United States)
Stony Brook Univ., NY (United States); Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
Stony Brook Univ., NY (United States)
Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States). National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II)
Washington Univ., St. Louis, MO (United States)
Columbia Univ., New York, NY (United States)
Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)
Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States); Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Stony Brook Univ., NY (United States); Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States). National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II)

Charge transfer at material interfaces governs a wide range of physical properties, from electronic band structures to emergent collective excitations. In two-dimensional (2D) material heterostructures, charge transfer phenomena play important roles in enabling novel quantum phases, proximity effects, and tunable plasmonic responses. One representative charge transfer interface is formed between α-RuCl₃, a van der Waals material with high electron affinity, and graphene. Significant charge transfer across this interface induces the formation of charge-transfer plasmon polaritons (CPPs), hybrid excitations between light and charge oscillations. However, previous studies found that as the charge transfer process takes place, α-RuCl₃ becomes lossy, which limits the quality factor of CPPs. Here, we investigate CPPs down to 10 K using a home-built scattering-type scanning near-field optical microscope (s-SNOM) optimized for low-temperature measurements. Our study reveals a dramatic suppression of plasmon loss channels below 40 K, contributing to a significant enhancement in the plasmonic quality factor. This reduction in loss is likely attributed to the blue shift of the correlation-induced Mott gap in α-RuCl₃ with decreasing temperature, along with the reduction of phonon scattering at low temperature. In conclusion, our results highlight the potential of using s-SNOM and CPPs to study complex 2D interfaces and reveal correlated electron dynamics in the underlying material.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (GBMF); National Science Foundation (NSF); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Scientific User Facilities (SUF)

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0012704; SC0019443

OSTI ID:: 2570247

Report Number(s):: BNL--228319-2025-JAAM

Journal Information:: ACS Photonics, Journal Name: ACS Photonics Journal Issue: 6 Vol. 12; ISSN 2330-4022

Publisher:: American Chemical Society (ACS)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
Mott gap
charge transfer plasmons
correlated electron systems
cryogenic nanophotonics
s-SNOM

Low-Loss Charge Transfer Plasmons in Graphene/α-RuCl3 Heterostructures Below 40 K

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Low-Loss Charge Transfer Plasmons in Graphene/α-RuCl₃ Heterostructures Below 40 K