Programmable Extreme Pseudomagnetic Fields in Graphene by a Uniaxial Stretch

Published

December 8, 2015

Author(s)

Shuze Zhu, Joseph A. Stroscio, Teng Li

Abstract

Many of the properties of graphene are tied to its lattice structure, allowing for tuning of charge carrier dynamics through mechanical strain. The graphene electro-mechanical coupling yields very large pseudomagnetic fields for small strain fields, up to hundreds of Tesla, which offer new scientific opportunities unattainable with ordinary laboratory magnets. Significant challenges exist in investigation of pseudomagnetic fields, limited by the non-planar graphene geometries in existing demonstrations and the lack of a viable approach to controlling the distribution and intensity of the pseudomagnetic field. Here we demonstrate two new approaches to generating large pseudomagnetic fields with uniform distributions in a planar graphene sheet over a large area. We achieve this by patterning the planar graphene geometry and graphene-based hetero-structures with a shape function to engineer a desired strain gradient. Our method is geometrical, opening up new fertile opportunities of strain engineering of electronic properties of 2D materials in general.

Citation

Physical Review Letters

Volume

115

Issue

24

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

DOI Link

Keywords

graphene, pseudomagnetic field, strain

Citation

Zhu, S. , Stroscio, J. and Li, T. (2015), Programmable Extreme Pseudomagnetic Fields in Graphene by a Uniaxial Stretch, Physical Review Letters, [online], https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.115.245501 (Accessed October 17, 2025)