Plasmons in two-dimensional electron systems with infinite and semi-infinite metal gratings

Abstract: We analytically investigate the plasmons propagating in a homogeneous two-dimensional (2D) electron system, along the metal grating in the form of a periodic array of strip-shaped electrodes (gates) in the vicinity of the 2D system. We show that in the case of semi-infinite grating, the Tamm plasmon modes localized near and propagating along the grating edge can exist in the gaps of the plasmonic band structure provided that the last gate differs in width from the other gates. When the last gate is wider, the spectrum of the fundamental Tamm plasmon mode lies in the lowest frequency gap, below the first plasmonic band. Importantly, we find the mode to exist in this case only for finite values of the wave vector along the grating. Otherwise, if the width of the last gate is smaller, the Tamm plasmon modes occupy higher frequency gaps, and delocalized plasmons from the first frequency band become the lowest frequency excitations.