Plexciton Dirac points and topological modes.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 27278258.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/ncomms11783 and PMC identifier 4906226.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Plexcitons are polaritonic modes that result from the strong coupling between excitons and plasmons. Here, we consider plexcitons emerging from the interaction of excitons in an organic molecular layer with surface plasmons in a metallic film. We predict the emergence of Dirac cones in the two-dimensional band-structure of plexcitons due to the inherent alignment of the excitonic transitions in the organic layer. An external magnetic field opens a gap between the Dirac cones if the plexciton system is interfaced with a magneto-optical layer. The resulting energy gap becomes populated with topologically protected one-way modes, which travel at the interface of this plexcitonic system. Our theoretical proposal suggests that plexcitons are a convenient and simple platform for the exploration of exotic phases of matter and for the control of energy flow at the nanoscale.