Optical properties of two-dimensional materials with tilted anisotropic Dirac cones: theoretical modeling with application to doped 8-Pmmn borophene

Abstract

Abstract The optical reflection, transmission and absorption properties of borophene, a newly discovered two-dimensional material with tilted anisotropic Dirac cones, are explored within a simple electronic band structure model of 8-Pmmn borophene, proposed by Zabolotskiy and Lozovik (2016 Phys. Rev. B 94 165403). It is assumed that the borophene layer is deposited on a dielectric substrate, such as Al2O3, and that the borophene’s electron density is controlled by an external gate voltage. The reflectance, transmittance and absorbance of the borophene layer, the conduction band of which is filled with electrons up to the Fermi level, are calculated against the frequency of the incident radiation, as well as on the angle of its incidence on the layer. Considered are the two principal cases of the incident radiation polarization either parallel to or normal to the plane of incidence. We reveal that the optical characteristics of 8-Pmmn borophene are distinctly different for the above two cases at all angles of radiation incidence, excepting the grazing incidence, for which the borophene layer is found to behave like a mirror regardless of the wave polarization. The results obtained indicate the possibility of visualizing the borophene layer deposited on a dielectric substrate by observing the minimum reflectivity of this layer at a certain angle incidence (called the quasi-Brewster angle) of the p-polarized radiation, which may differ by a value of about ten degrees from the Brewster angle of the substrate.