biostudies-literatureUnknown13(15)Golenic NConverting transverse photons into longitudinal two-dimensional plasmon--polaritons (2D-PP) and vice versa presents a significant challenge within the fields of photonics and plasmonics. Therefore, understanding the mechanism which increases the photon - 2D-PP conversion efficiency could significantly contribute to those efforts. In this study, we theoretically examine how efficiently incident radiation, when scattered by a silver spherical nanoparticle (Ag-NP), can be transformed into 2D-PP within van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures composed of hexagonal boron nitride and graphene (hBN/Gr composites). We show that the Dirac plasmon (DP) excitation efficiency depends on the Ag-NP radius as <i>R</i> ³, and decreases exponentially with Ag-NP height <i>h</i>, so that for a certainNanophotonics (Berlin, Germany)2765-2780https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC11502017biostudies-literatureOptically driven plasmons in graphene/hBN van der Waals heterostructures: simulating s-SNOM measurements.PMC11502017de Gironcoli SGolenic NDespoja VfalseOptically driven plasmons in graphene/hBN van der Waals heterostructures: simulating s-SNOM measurements.Converting transverse photons into longitudinal two-dimensional plasmon--polaritons (2D-PP) and vice versa presents a significant challenge within the fields of photonics and plasmonics. Therefore, understanding the mechanism which increases the photon - 2D-PP conversion efficiency could significantly contribute to those efforts. In this study, we theoretically examine how efficiently incident radiation, when scattered by a silver spherical nanoparticle (Ag-NP), can be transformed into 2D-PP within van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures composed of hexagonal boron nitride and graphene (hBN/Gr composites). We show that the Dirac plasmon (DP) excitation efficiency depends on the Ag-NP radius as <i>R</i> ³, and decreases exponentially with Ag-NP height <i>h</i>, so that for a certain2024-01-01T00:00:00Z2024 Jul2025-04-18T12:55:28.791Z2025-04-04T01:15:10.781ZS-EPMC115020173963524910.1515/nanoph-2023-0841