Fig. 1: Thermo-optical properties of graphene and thin metal films.
From: Thermal manipulation of plasmons in atomically thin films
a Schematic representation of a thermoplasmonic light modulation system; a plasmon-supporting structure is optically pumped to generate a high electron temperature in an optical absorber placed inside it, thus inducing sizeable variations in the plasmon frequencies and intensities that are in turn translated into a large modulation of scattered probe light. b We consider thermoplasmonic systems combining graphene and thin metallic films, in which pumping light is preferentially absorbed by the former; the spectral operation range is indicated for each of these structures. c Dependence of the electronic heat capacity of graphene (calculated from Eq. (4) in Methods for different Fermi energies EF) and thin metallic films (obtained from ref. 70 for different thicknesses h) on electron temperature Te when the lattice temperature \({T}_{\mathrm{\ell}}\) remains at the room value T0 = 300 K. d Te dependence of the chemical potential μ (solid curves) and Drude weight μD (dashed curves) in graphene for different Fermi energies (see color code in e). e, f Te dependence of the DC scattering rate in e graphene and f noble metals when the lattice temperature is either \({T}_{\mathrm{\ell}} = {T}_0\) (solid curves) or \({T}_{\mathrm{\ell}}\,=\,{T}_{\mathrm{e}}\) (dashed curves)
