Guided Plasmon Modes of a Graphene-Coated Kerr Slab

Abstract

We study analytically propagating surface plasmon modes of a Kerr slab sandwiched between two graphene layers. We show that some of the modes that propagate forward at low field intensities start propagating with negative slope of dispersion and positive flux of energy (fast-light surface plasmons) when the field intensity becomes high. We also discover that our structure supports an additional branch of low-intensity fast-light guided modes. The possibility of dynamically switching between the forward and the fast-light plasmon modes by changing the intensity of the excitation light or the chemical potential of the graphene layers opens up wide opportunities for controlling light with light and electrical signals on the nanoscale.