Mid Infrared Mapping of Four-Layer Graphene Polytypes using Near-Field Microscopy

The mid-infrared (MIR) spectral region attracts attention for accurate chemical analysis using photonic devices. Few-layer Graphene (FLG) polytypes are promising platforms due to their broad absorption in this range and gate-tunable optical properties. Among these polytypes, the noncentrosymmetric ABCB/ACAB structure is particularly interesting due to its intrinsic bandgap (8.8 meV) and internal polarization. In this study, we utilize scattering-scanning near-field microscopy to measure the optical response of all three tetralayer Graphene polytypes in the 8.5-11.5 µm range. We employ a finite dipole model to compare these results to the calculated optical conductivity for each polytype obtained from a tight-binding model. Our findings reveal a significant discrepancy in the MIR optical conductivity response of Graphene between the different polytypes than what the tight-binding model suggests. This observation implies an increased potential for utilizing the distinct tetralayer polytypes in photonic devices operating within the mid-infrared range for chemical sensing and IR imaging.