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Fizeau Drag in Graphene Plasmonics

ORAL

Abstract

Dragging of light by moving dielectrics was predicted by Fresnel and verified by Fizeau’s celebrated experiments with flowing water. This momentous discovery is among the experimental cornerstones of Einstein’s special relativity and is well understood in the context of relativistic kinematics. In contrast, experiments on dragging photons by an electron flow in solids are eluded in agreement with the theory. Here we report on the electron flow dragging surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs): hybrid quasiparticles of infrared photons and electrons in graphene. The drag is visualized directly through infrared nano-imaging of propagating plasmonic waves in the presence of a high-density current. The polaritons in graphene shorten their wavelength when launched against the drifting carriers. Unlike the Fizeau effect for light, the SPP drag by electrical currents defies the simple kinematics interpretation and is linked to the nonlinear electrodynamics of the Dirac electrons in graphene. The observed plasmonic Fizeau drag enables breaking of time-reversal symmetry and reciprocity at infrared frequencies without resorting to magnetic fields, or chiral optical pumping.

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Presenters

  • Yinan Dong

    Columbia Univ, Columbia University

Authors

  • Yinan Dong

    Columbia Univ, Columbia University

  • Lin Xiong

    Department of Physics, Columbia University, Columbia Univ, Columbia University

  • Isabelle Y Phinney

    MIT, Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  • Zhiyuan Sun

    Columbia University, Department of Physics, Columbia University, Columbia Univ

  • Ran Jing

    Columbia University, Columbia Univ

  • Alexander McLeod

    Columbia University, Department of Physics, Columbia University, Columbia Univ, Physics, Columbia University

  • Shuai Zhang

    Department of Physics, Columbia University, Columbia Univ, Columbia University

  • Song Liu

    Columbia University, Mechanical Engineering, Columbia, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Columbia University, Columbia Univ

  • Haoyang Gao

    MIT

  • Zhiyu Dong

    Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT, MIT

  • Richard Pan

    Columbia University

  • James Edgar

    Chemical Engineering, Kansas State University, Kansas State University, Tim Taylor Department of Chemical Engineering, Kansas State University

  • Pablo Jarillo-Herrero

    MIT, Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT, Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  • Leonid Levitov

    Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT, MIT, Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  • Andrew Millis

    Columbia University, Department of Physics, Columbia University, Flatiron Institute, Columbia Univ, Center for Computational Quantum Physics, Flatiron Institute, Flatiron Institute; Columbia Univ., Columbia University and Center for Computational Quantum Physics, Flatiron Institute

  • Michael Fogler

    University of California, San Diego, Department of Physics, University of California San Diego, UC San Diego, Department of Physics, University of California, San Diego, UCSD, University of California San Diego

  • Denis Bandurin

    Manchester University, MIT, Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  • Dmitri Basov

    Columbia University, Department of Physics, Columbia University, Physics, Columbia University, Columbia Univ