On-chip transfer of ultrashort graphene plasmon wave packets using terahertz electronics

Ultrashort polariton wave packets, such as terahertz graphene plasmon polaritons, could be used for fast information processing in integrated circuits. However, conventional optical techniques have struggled to integrate the components for controlling polariton signals and have a low conversion efficiency. Here, we show that graphene plasmon wave packets can be generated, manipulated and read out on-chip using terahertz electronics. Electrical pulses injected into a graphene microribbon through an ohmic contact can be efficiently converted into a plasmon wave packet with a pulse duration as short as 1.2 ps and a three-dimensional spatial confinement of 2.1 × 10−18 m3. The conversion efficiency between the electrical pulses and plasmon wave packets can also reach 35% due to the absence of a momentum mismatch. The transport properties of graphene plasmons are studied by changing the dielectric environments, which provides a basis for designing graphene plasmonic circuits. Terahertz electronics that can create and control ultrashort graphene plasmon wave packets with durations as short as 1.2 ps can offer on-chip handling of plasmonic signals.