Phase-shift-mediated sensitive detection of propagating ultra-confined graphene plasmons

The ultra-confined plasmon field supported by graphene provides an ideal platform for enhanced light-matter interactions and studies of fundamental physical phenomena. On the other hand, the intrinsic ultra-short plasmon wavelength obstructs in-plane detectability of plasmon behaviors, like wavelength variations induced by biomolecule or dragging current. The detection of plasmon wavefront and its spatial shift relies on scattering-type scanning near-field microscopy with a spatial resolution of 20 nm. Here we propose a configuration which can efficiently separate ultra-confined plasmon region from detection region, guaranteeing both field confinement and in-plane sensitive detection of wavelength variations. As an example, the application in detecting Fizeau drag effect is demonstrated. Our study can be applied for detecting strong light-matter interactions, including fundamental physical studies and biosensing applications. (C) 2022 Optica Publishing Group under the terms of the Optica Open Access Publishing Agreement