Engineering the plasmon modes of a confined electron gas

The volume plasmon modes of a confined electron gas are engineered in a step-like semiconductor potential, which induces the formation of adjacent regions of different charge density. Each region supports spatially localized collective modes. Adjacent modes are theoretically demonstrated to couple, forming delocalized modes, which are well-described with a hybridization picture. Exploiting the thin-film Berreman effect, the engineered plasmon modes are directly observed in optical measurements. Using a quantum microscopic theory, the asymmetry of the single-particle electronic states is shown to be directly imprinted on the nonuniform polarization of the collective modes.