Title: Controlling plasmon modes and damping in buckled two-dimensional material open systems,
Abstract: Full ranges of both hybrid plasmon-mode dispersions and their damping are
studied systematically by our recently developed mean-field theory in open
systems involving a conducting substrate and a two-dimensional (2D) material
with a buckled honeycomb lattice, such as silicene, germanene, and a group
\rom{4} dichalcogenide as well. In this hybrid system, the single plasmon mode
for a free-standing 2D layer is split into one acoustic-like and one
optical-like mode, leading to a dramatic change in the damping of plasmon
modes. In comparison with gapped graphene, critical features associated with
plasmon modes and damping in silicene and molybdenum disulfide are found with
various spin-orbit and lattice asymmetry energy bandgaps, doping types and
levels, and coupling strengths between 2D materials and the conducting
substrate. The obtained damping dependence on both spin and valley degrees of
freedom is expected to facilitate measuring the open-system dielectric property
and the spin-orbit coupling strength of individual 2D materials. The unique
linear dispersion of the acoustic-like plasmon mode introduces additional
damping from the intraband particle-hole modes which is absent for a
free-standing 2D material layer, and the use of molybdenum disulfide with a
large bandgap simultaneously suppresses the strong damping from the interband
particle-hole modes.