Nanoscale photothermal effects enable important applications in cancer therapy, imaging and catalysis. These effects also induce substantial changes in the optical response experienced by the probing light, thus suggesting their application in all-optical modulation. Here, we demonstrate the ability of graphene, thin metal films, and graphene/metal hybrid systems to undergo photothermal optical modulation with depths as large as >70% over a wide spectral range extending from the visible to the terahertz frequency domains. We envision the use of ultrafast pump laser pulses to raise the electron temperature of graphene during a picosecond timescale in which its mid-infrared plasmon resonances undergo dramatic shifts and broadenings, while visible and near-infrared plasmons in the neighboring metal films are severely attenuated by the presence of hot graphene electrons. Our study opens a promising avenue toward the active photothermal manipulation of the optical response in atomically thin materials with potential applications in ultrafast light modulation.

中文翻译：

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原子薄膜中等离子体激元的热操纵。

纳米级光热效应可在癌症治疗，成像和催化中实现重要应用。这些效应还引起探测光所经历的光学响应的​​实质性变化，从而表明它们在全光调制中的应用。在这里，我们展示了石墨烯，金属薄膜和石墨烯/金属杂化系统在从可见光到太赫兹频域的宽光谱范围内进行光热光调制的深度大于70％的能力。我们设想使用超快泵浦激光脉冲在一个皮秒级的时间内提高石墨烯的电子温度，在该级中，其中红外等离子体激元共振会发生剧烈的移动和扩展，而相邻的金属膜中的可见和近红外等离激元由于存在石墨烯电子而严重衰减。我们的研究为原子薄材料中的光学响应进行主动光热操纵开辟了一条有希望的途径，并有望在超快光调制中应用。