Tailoring plasmon excitations in $\alpha -{\mathcal {T}}_3$ armchair nanoribbons

We have calculated and investigated the electronic states, dynamical polarization function and the plasmon excitations for $$\alpha -{\mathcal {T}}_3$$α - T 3 nanoribbons with armchair-edge termination. The obtained plasmon dispersions are found to depend significantly on the number of atomic rows across the ribbon and the energy gap which is also determined by the nanoribbon geometry. The bandgap appears to have the strongest effect on both the plasmon dispersions and their Landau damping. We have determined the conditions when relative hopping parameter $$\alpha $$α of an $$\alpha -{\mathcal {T}}_3$$α - T 3 lattice has a strong effect on the plasmons which makes our material distinguished from graphene nanoribbons. Our results for the electronic and collective properties of $$\alpha -{\mathcal {T}}_3$$α - T 3 nanoribbons are expected to find numerous applications in the development of the next-generation electronic, nano-optical and plasmonic devices.