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Nonlocal effects and enhanced nonreciprocity in current-driven graphene systems

Morgado, T. A. ; Silveirinha, M. G.

Physical Review B - Condensed Matter and Materials Physics Vol. 102, Nº 7, pp. - , August, 2020.

ISSN (print): 1098-0121
ISSN (online):

Scimago Journal Ranking: 1,50 (in 2018)

Digital Object Identifier: 10.1103/PhysRevB.102.075102

Abstract
A graphene sheet biased with a drift electric current offers a unique opportunity to attain unidirectional, backscattering-immune, and subwavelength light propagation, as proposed by T. A. Morgado and M. G. Silveirinha [ACS Photonics 5, 4253 (2018)]. Here, we investigate in detail the impact of the intrinsic nonlocal response of graphene in the dispersion characteristics of the current-driven plasmons supported by single-layer and double-layer graphene systems. It is theoretically shown that even though the nonlocal effects weaken the spectral asymmetry of the plasmon dispersion, the studied platforms can support unidirectional backscattering-immune guided modes. Our analysis also confirms that the drift-current bias can effectively pump the graphene plasmons and enhance the propagation distance. Moreover, it is shown that the nonreciprocity and optical isolation can be boosted by pairing two drift-current-biased graphene sheets due to the enhanced radiation drag by the drifting electrons.