Detecting molecular vibrational modes of side chains and endpoints in nanoscale proteins with graphene plasmon

Monitoring the chemical and structural changes in protein side chains and endpoints by infrared(IR)spectroscopy is important for studying the chemical reaction and physical adsorption process of proteins.However, the detection of side chains and endpoints in nanoscale proteins is still challenging due to its weak IR response. Here, by designing a double layered graphene plasmon sensor on MgF_2/Si substrate in the IR fingerprint region, we detect the vibrational modes in side chains and endpoints(1397 cm~(-1) and 1458 cm~(-1)) of monolayer protein. The sensor could be applied on biochemistry to investigate the physical and chemical reaction of biomolecules.     

Ultra-compact graphene plasmonic filter integrated in a waveguide

Graphene plasmons have become promising candidates for deep-subwavelength nanoscale optical devices due to their strong field confinement and low damping. Among these nanoscale optical devices, band-pass filter for wavelength selection and noise filtering are key devices in an integrated optical circuit. However, plasmonic filters are still oversized because large resonant cavities are needed to perform frequency selection. Here, an ultra-compact filter integrated in a graphene plasmonic waveguide was designed, where a rectangular resonant cavity is inside a graphene nanoribbon waveguide. The properties of the filter were studied using the finite-difference time-domain method and demonstrated using the analytical model. The results demonstrate the band-pass filter has a high quality factor(20.36) and electrically tunable frequency response. The working frequency of the filter could also be tuned by modifying the cavity size. Our work provides a feasible structure for a graphene plasmonic nano-filter for future use in integrated optical circuits.