Modulating and engineering Luttinger liquid plasmons in low dimensional materials

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Nontechnical AbstractCarbon nanotubes are becoming an increasingly important nanomaterials system for technological translation: over the last ten years, research in the growth and alignment of carbon nanotubes has led to the demonstration of advanced integrated electronic systems such as carbon nanotube computer processors. An important complement to electronic functionality is optical functionality, where carbon nanotubes have the potential to generate, detect, and guide light for use in sensors and communication modules, in a manner that seamlessly integrates with carbon nanotube-based electronic logic devices. The proposed work will explore the ability for nanotubes to serve as advanced optoelectronic devices at infrared wavelengths. In particular, the fundamental limits for guiding and localizing light will be elucidated using new computational methods and new experimental materials preparation and characterization methods. The education goal of this project is to work with grade school teachers to disseminate new curricula that educates and inspires high school students in STEM.Technical AbstractThe ultimate limits of plasmon propagation and compression in one-dimensional systems remain elusive. The related open questions include fundamental aspects of plasmonic excitations such as their lifetimes, dynamics, and quantum plasmonic dispersion in one-dimensional single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) and mixed-dimensional systems. We propose to establish new methodologies, based on advanced materials growth and nanofabrication methods, high-resolution optical probing, and high-performance first-principles calculations, to elucidate the underlying physics of strongly confined one-dimensional plasmonic systems. The study builds on our development and study of chemical vapor deposition-grown wafer-scale SWCNTs and near-field optical instrumentation. This project will lead to new fundamental understandings of one-dimensional quantum plasmons, its coupling with other plasmonic systems, the relevant correlated physics within the quantum confined Luttinger liquid regime. We also anticipate that our newly developed experimental and theoretical methods will broadly apply to the study of other condensed matter systems.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.