Effects of the electron-plasmon interactions on the transport properties of a pristine graphene and a graphene coupled with Au nanoparticle arrays*

Graphene has been revealed as an appealing material for designing two-dimensional electronic devices due to its inherently weak electron-phonon scattering and correspondingly large carrier mobility. In the high temperature regime, the phonon-limited resistivity depends linearly on the temperature. Here, we first study the effects of interactions between the conduction electrons and the intrinsic plasmon modes of a pristine graphene monolayer on the transport properties of graphene. Within Boltzmann transport theory, we find a nonlinear temperature-dependent correction to the linear dependence of the resistivity as a result of the electron-plasmon scattering. Next, we generalize to systems consisting of a monolayer graphene proximity coupled with Au nanoparticle arrays. In the regions covered by the Au nanoparticles, the electron-electron interactions are further altered by the presence of the nanocavity plasmon modes between the nanoparticles and graphene. We find that the relaxation time of the hybrid system is much longer than that of pristine graphene, leading to enhanced dephasing length of the conduction electrons. These findings are discussed in connection with our experimental observations.