Surface vector plasmonic lattice solitons in semi-infinite graphene-pair arrays

We investigate the surface vector plasmonic lattice solitons (PLSs) in semi-infinite graphene-pair arrays (GPAs). The surface vector PLSs are composed of two components which are associated with different band gaps. Both components undergo mutual self-trapping at the boundary of the semi-infinite structure when the self-focusing nonlinearity of graphene and the light diffraction reach a balance. Thanks to the strong confinement of SPPs, the surface vector PLSs can be squeezed into a deep-subwavelength width of ~0.003λ. By comparing with bulk solitons, the surface PLSs are more readily to excite by external waves and more sensitive to the surrounding environment. The study may develop promising applications in all-optical switching devices and optical sensors on deep-subwavelength scale.