Effective Propagation of Surface Plasmon Polaritons on Graphene-Protected Single-Crystalline Silver Films

Silver (Ag) is a promising material for manipulation of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs), due to its optical and electrical properties; however, the intrinsic properties are easily degraded by surface corrosion under atmospheric conditions, restricting its applications in plasmonics. Here, we address this issue via single-crystalline Ag films protected with graphene layers and demonstrate effective propagation of SPPs on the graphene-protected Ag films. Single-crystalline Ag films with atomically flat surfaces are prepared by epitaxial growth; graphene layers are then transferred onto the Ag films. The propagation lengths of SPPs on the graphene-protected Ag films are measured, and their variations under corrosive conditions are investigated. The initial SPP propagation lengths for the bare Ag films are very long (about 50 μm in the wavelength range 550–700 nm). However, the values decrease significantly (11–13 μm) under corrosive conditions. On the contrary, the double-layer-graphene-protected Ag films exhibit SPP propagation lengths of about 23 μm and retain over 90% (21–23 μm) of the propagation lengths even after exposure to corrosive conditions, guaranteeing the reliability of Ag plasmonic devices. This approach can encourage extending the application of the graphene–metal hybrid structure and thus developing Ag plasmonic devices.