Optically and Electrically Tunable Dirac Points and Zitterbewegung in Graphene-Based Photonic Superlattices

Abstract

We demonstrate that graphene-based photonic superlattices provide a versatile platform for electrical and all-optical control of photonic beams with deep-subwavelength accuracy. Specifically, by inserting graphene sheets into periodic metallo-dielectric structures one can design optical superlattices that posses photonic Dirac points (DPs) at frequencies at which the spatial average of the permittivity of the superlattice, $\bar{\epsilon }$, vanishes. Similar to the well-known zero-$\bar{n}$ bandgaps, we show that these zero-$\bar{\epsilon }$ DPs are highly robust against structural disorder. We also show that, by tuning the graphene permittivity via the optical Kerr effect or electrical doping, one can induce a spectral variation of the DP exceeding \SI{30}{\nano\meter}, at mid-IR and THz frequencies. The implications of this wide tunability for the photonic Zitterbewegung effect in a vicinity of the DP are explored too.

arXiv comment5 pages, 5 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev. B as a Rapid Communication

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• Effect of zitterbewegung on the propagation of wave packets in ABC-stacked multilayer graphene: an analytical and computational approach
• Plasmon-induced nonlinearity enhancement and homogenization of graphene metasurfaces
• Zitterbewegung Effect in Graphene with Spacially Modulated Potential
• Anderson localization in metallic nanoparticle arrays
• Universal behavior of dispersive Dirac cone in gradient-index plasmonic metamaterials
• Revealing inherent quantum interference and entanglement of a Dirac particle
• Finite-size effects in wave transmission through plasmonic crystals: A tale of two scales
• Photonic cellular automaton simulation of relativistic quantum fields: observation of Zitterbewegung
• Transverse Anderson localization of light near Dirac points of photonic nanostructures