Controlling plasmon modes and damping in buckled two-dimensional material open systems

Full ranges of both hybrid plasmon-mode dispersions and their damping are studied systematically by our recently developed mean-field theory in open systems involving a conducting substrate and a two-dimensional (2D) material with a buckled honeycomb lattice, such as silicene, germanene, and a group IV dichalcogenide as well. In this hybrid system, the single plasmon mode for a freestanding 2D layer is split into one acoustic-like and one optical-like mode, leading to a dramatic change in the damping of plasmon modes. In comparison with gapped graphene, critical features associated with plasmon modes and damping in silicene and molybdenum disulfide are found with various spin-orbit and lattice asymmetry energy bandgaps, doping types and levels, and coupling strengths between 2D materials and the conducting substrate. The obtained damping dependence on both spin and valley degrees of freedom is expected to facilitate measuring the open-system dielectric property and the spin-orbit coupling strength of individual 2D materials. The unique linear dispersion of the acoustic-like plasmon mode introduces additional damping from the intraband particle-hole modes, which is absent for a free-standing 2D material layer, and the use of molybdenum disulfide with a large bandgap simultaneously suppresses the strong damping from the interband particle-hole modes. Published by AIP Publishing.