Thermal manipulation of plasmons in atomically thin films

Nanoscale photothermal effects can induce substantial changes in the optical response experienced by the probing light, thus suggesting their applications in all-optical light modulation. By exploiting nanosystems composed of graphene or ultrathin metal films, ultrafast laser pumps can be used to raise the electron temperature of graphene during a picosecond timescale, in which its surface conductivity undergoes dramatic temperature-dependent variations. Consequently, the spectral response of plasmonic modes supported in the nanosystems is severely modified.