Phase-resolved terahertz nanoimaging of WTe2 microcrystals

(Received 2022; accepted 2023; published April 2023) The terahertz (THz) electrodynamics of few-layer WTe2 is dominated by the plasmon response. However, THz surface plasmons (SPs) with long wavelengths in two-dimensional exfoliated crystals are typically confined by the lateral geometry. Direct visualization of the plasmonic standing wave patterns is challenging due to the spatial confinement and low quality factor of the SP, especially for samples that are only a few monolayers thick. Here, we resolve subtle real-space features of the plasmonic response of WTe2 by augmenting more common scattering amplitude experiments with the phase contrast accomplished within the time-domain version of THz nanoimaging. Amplitude and phase images allow us to quantitatively evaluate the evolution of the plasmonic response at cryogenic temperatures in samples with variable thickness from 3 to 12 monolayers. The proposed imaging modality is universally applicable to the THz near-field nanoscopy of low-dimensional materials.