  A dielectric multilayer platform has been investigated as a foundation for
two-dimensional optics. In this paper, we present, to the best of our
knowledge, the first experimental demonstration of absorption of Bloch surface
waves in the presence of graphene layers. Graphene layers have been grown
previously via CVD on Cu foils and transferred layer by layer by PMMA-wet
transfer method. We exploit total internal reflection configuration and
multi-heterodyne scanning near-field optical microscopy as a far-field coupling
method and near-field characterization tool, respectively. The absorption is
quantified in terms of propagation lengths of Bloch surface waves. A
significant drop (about 17 times shorter) in the propagation length of surface
waves is observed in the presence of single layer of graphene.
