Strong enhancement of graphene plasmonic emission by quantum Čerenkov effect in confined structures

Abstract

One notable issue in low terahertz (THz) applications is to achieve sources with higher output power than the state of the art. One possible solution to the foregoing problem is to amplify the electromagnetic field emitted by already accessible THz generators. Here, we study the quantum Čerenkov effect as a possible explanation for low-THz amplification, which has been found experimentally elsewhere. Specifically, the emission of surface plasmons from traveling electrons in mono-dimensional graphene, mediated by charge–field interaction, is shown to provide in-plane electromagnetic radiation down to THz and mm-wave frequencies. We focus on a structure consisting of a graphene layer between metal electrodes, which enhance the field confinement and lead to a linearization of the plasmon dispersion in the frequency domain. When compared to a non-confined plasmonic radiation, the above-mentioned configuration shows emission rates ten times larger, which make it promising for THz amplification.