Abstract-Terahertz plasmonic properties of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite

T. D. Nguyen^1,2, S. Liu³, G. Kumar^3,4, A. Nahata³, and Z. V. Vardeny²

¹Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, USA
²Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112, USA
³Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112, USA
⁴Institute for Research in Electronics and Applied Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA

  http://apl.aip.org/resource/1/applab/v102/i17/p171107_s1?isAuthorized=no

We demonstrate that highly oriented pyrolytic graphite is a potentially useful material for plasmonic applications in the terahertz (THz) spectral range. Using THz time-domain spectroscopy, we studied the transmission properties of a ∼7.5 μm thick graphite film made via mechanical exfoliation and found that the complex dielectric constant follows the Drude model with a plasma frequency ν_p ∼ 34 THz. To assess the graphite plasmonic properties, we fabricated a subwavelength periodic aperture array in the graphite film and in a free-standing stainless steel film. Despite the low conductivity of graphite compared to conventional metals, the resonant transmission properties are similar.

© 2013 AIP Publishing LLC