Abstract
Surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) can be generated in graphene at frequencies in the mid-infrared to terahertz range, which is not possible using conventional plasmonic materials such as noble metals. Moreover, the lifetime and confinement volume of such SPPs are much longer and smaller, respectively, than those in metals. For these reasons, graphene plasmonics has potential applications in novel plasmonic sensors and various concepts have been proposed. This review paper examines the potential of such graphene plasmonics with regard to the development of novel high-performance sensors. The theoretical background is summarized and the intrinsic nature of graphene plasmons, interactions between graphene and SPPs induced by metallic nanostructures and the electrical control of SPPs by adjusting the Fermi level of graphene are discussed. Subsequently, the development of optical sensors, biological sensors and important components such as absorbers/emitters and reconfigurable optical mirrors for use in new sensor systems are reviewed. Finally, future challenges related to the fabrication of graphene-based devices as well as various advanced optical devices incorporating other two-dimensional materials are examined. This review is intended to assist researchers in both industry and academia in the design and development of novel sensors based on graphene plasmonics.
Highlights
Plasmonics is an important technology that permits the manipulation of photons beyond the diffraction limit [1,2,3]
Recent advances in graphene plasmonics can be roughly classified into three areas, which involve the application of—(i) intrinsic plasmons in graphene, (ii) the interactions between graphene and SPPs induced by metallic nanostructures and (iii) the electrical control of SPPs induced by metallic nanostructures
This review examined graphene plasmonics with regard to potential sensors applications
Summary
Plasmonics is an important technology that permits the manipulation of photons beyond the diffraction limit [1,2,3]. Graphene-based plasmonics-type sensors show promise with regard to meeting the recent demand for devices operating in the mid-IR to THz regions with electrically tunable wavelengths. Recent advances in graphene plasmonics can be roughly classified into three areas, which involve the application of—(i) intrinsic plasmons in graphene (meaning that the graphene itself functions as a plasmonic material), (ii) the interactions between graphene and SPPs induced by metallic nanostructures and (iii) the electrical control of SPPs induced by metallic nanostructures Each of these fields of study can be applied to the design of specific sensors and, in the case of (ii) and (iii), various metamaterials [32,33] or metasurfaces [34,35] are integrated with graphene. The advantages and future challenges associated with graphene plasmonics in sensor applications are addressed
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