This book is meant as an introduction to graphene plasmonics and aims at the advanced undergraduate and graduate students entering the field of plasmonics in graphene. In it different theoretical methods are introduced, starting with an elementary description of graphene plasmonics and evolving towards more advanced topics. This book is essentially self-contained and brings together a number of different topics about the field that are scattered in the vast literature. The text is composed of eleven chapters and of a set of detailed appendices. It can be read in two different ways: Reading only the chapters to get acquainted with the field of plasmonics in graphene or reading the chapters and studying the appendices to get a working knowledge of the topic. The study of the material in this book will bring the students to the forefront of the research in this field.Comment: http://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/9948, World Scientific (2016

Plasmon-emitter interactions are of paramount importance in modern nanoplasmonics and are generally maximal at short emitter-surface separations. However, when the separation falls below 10 -20 nm, the classical theory progressively deteriorates due to its neglect of quantum mechanical effects such as nonlocality, electronic spill-out, and Landau damping. Here, we show how this neglect can be remedied by presenting a unified theoretical treatment of mesoscopic electrodynamics grounded on the framework of Feibelman d-parameters. Crucially, our technique naturally incorporates nonclassical resonance shifts and surface-enabled Landau damping-a nonlocal damping effect-which have a dramatic impact on the amplitude and spectral distribution of plasmonemitter interactions. We consider a broad array of plasmon-emitter interactions ranging from dipolar and multipolar spontaneous emission enhancement, to plasmon-assisted energy transfer and enhancement of twophoton transitions. The formalism presented here gives a complete account of both plasmons and plasmon-emitter interactions at the nanoscale, constituting a simple yet rigorous and general platform to incorporate nonclassical effects in plasmon-empowered nanophotonic phenomena.

Engineering light-matter interactions up to the strong-coupling regime at room temperature is one of the cornerstones of modern nanophotonics. Achieving this goal will en-arXiv:1812.09495v1 [cond-mat.mes-hall]

The field of 2D materials-based nanophotonics has been growing at a rapid pace, triggered by the ability to design nanophotonic systems with in-situ control 1 , unprecedented degrees of freedom, and to build material heterostructures from bottom up with atomic precision 2 . A wide palette of polaritonic classes [3][4][5][6] have been identified, comprising ultra-confined optical fields, even approaching characteristic length-scales of a single atom 7 . These advances have been a real boost for the emerging field of quantum nanophotonics, where the quantum mechanical nature of the electrons and/or polaritons and their interactions become relevant. Examples include, quantum nonlocal effects [8][9][10][11] , ultrastrong light-matter interactions [11][12][13][14][15][16] , Cherenkov radiation 13,17,18 , access to forbidden transitions 11 , hydrodynamic effects [19][20][21] , single-plasmon nonlinearities 22,23 , polaritonic quantization 24 , topological effects etc. 3,4 . In addition to these intrinsic quantum nanophotonic phenomena, the 2D material system can also be used as a sensitive probe for the quantum properties of the material that carries the nanophotonics modes, or quantum materials in its vicinity. Here, polaritons act as a probe for otherwise invisible excitations, e.g. in superconductors 25 , or as a new tool to monitor the existence of Berry curvature in topological materials and superlattice effects in twisted 2D materials.In this article, we present an overview of the emergent field of 2D-material quantum nanophotonics, and provide a future perspective on the prospects of both fundamental emergent phenomena and emergent quantum technologies, such as quantum sensing, single-photon sources and quantum emitters manipulation. We address four main implications (cf. Figure 1): i) quantum sensing, featuring polaritons to probe superconductivity and explore new electronic transport hydrodynamic behaviours, ii) quantum technologies harnessing single-photon generation, manipulation and detection using 2D materials, iii) polariton engineering with quantum materials enabled by twist angle and stacking order control in van der Waals heterostructures and iv) extreme light-matter interactions enabled by the strong confinement of light at atomic level by 2D materials, which provide new tools to manipulate light fields at the nano-scale (e.g., quantum chemistry 26 , nonlocal effects, high Purcell enhancement).

The series "Springer Theses" brings together a selection of the very best Ph.D. theses from around the world and across the physical sciences. Nominated and endorsed by two recognized specialists, each published volume has been selected for its scientific excellence and the high impact of its contents for the pertinent field of research. For greater accessibility to non-specialists, the published versions include an extended introduction, as well as a foreword by the student's supervisor explaining the special relevance of the work for the field. As a whole, the series will provide a valuable resource both for newcomers to the research fields described, and for other scientists seeking detailed background information on special questions. Finally, it provides an accredited documentation of the valuable contributions made by today's younger generation of scientists.

We theoretically explore the role of mesoscopic fluctuations and noise on the spectral and temporal properties of systems of PT -symmetric coupled gain-loss resonators operating near the exceptional point, where eigenvalues and eigenvectors coalesce. We show that the inevitable detuning in the frequencies of the uncoupled resonators leads to an unavoidable modification of the conditions for reaching the exceptional point, while, as this point is approached in ensembles of resonator pairs, statistical averaging significantly smears the spectral features. We also discuss how these fluctuations affect the sensitivity of sensors based on coupled PT -symmetric resonators. Finally, we show that temporal fluctuations in the detuning and gain of these sensors lead to a quadratic growth of the optical power in time, thus implying that maintaining operation at the exceptional point over a long period can be rather challenging. Our theoretical analysis clarifies issues central to the realization of PT -symmetric devices, and should facilitate future experimental work in the field.

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Polaritons, resulting from the hybridization of light with polarization charges formed at the boundaries between media with positive and negative dielectric response functions, can focus light into regions much smaller than its associated free‐space wavelength. This property is paramount for a plethora of applications in nanophotonics, ranging from biological sensing to photocatalysis to nonlinear and quantum optics. In the two‐dimensional (2D) limit, represented by atomically thin and van der Waals (vdW) materials of single‐layers bound by weak vdW attraction, polaritons are characterized by extremely small wavelengths associated with extreme optical confinement, and furthermore can exhibit long lifetimes, electrical tunability, and extreme sensitivity to their dielectric environment, among many other desirable qualities in nano‐optical device applications. Here, the fundamentals of polaritons in atomically thin materials are summarized, emphasizing plasmon and exciton polaritons, their strong light–matter interactions, and nonlinear plasmonics. More specifically, this review opens with a pedagogical discussion of plasmons in extended and nanostructured graphene, providing a classical electrodynamical model in a nonretarded theoretical framework, and the ultraconfined acoustic plasmons supported by hybrid graphene–dielectric–metal structures. In addition, the basic principles are introduced and the recent developments on nonlinear graphene plasmonics and on strong coupling physics with atomically thin transition metal dichalcogenides are reviewed. Finally, potentially new, promising research directions in the burgeoning field of 2D nanophotonics are identified.