Network model for periodically strained graphene
Abstract
The long-wavelength physics of monolayer graphene in the presence of periodic strain fields has a natural chiral scattering network description. When the strain field varies slowly compared to the graphene lattice and the effective magnetic length of the induced valley pseudomagnetic field, the low-energy physics can be understood in terms of valley-polarized percolating domain-wall modes. Inspired by a recent experiment, we consider a strain field with threefold rotation and mirror symmetries but without twofold rotation symmetry, resulting in a system with the connectivity of the oriented kagome network. Scattering processes in this network are captured by a symmetry-constrained phenomenological matrix. We analyze the phase diagram of the kagome network, and show that the bulk physics of the strained graphene can be qualitatively captured by the network when we account for a percolation transition at charge neutrality. We also discuss the limitations of this approach to properly account for boundary physics.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2209.02554,
title = {Network model for periodically strained graphene},
author = {Christophe De Beule and Vo Tien Phong and E. J. Mele},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2209.02554},
year = {2023}
}
Comments
13 pages; 11 figures