Effect of uniaxial strain on the reflectivity of graphene

TL;DR

This paper investigates how uniaxial strain affects the optical reflectivity of graphene, revealing strain-induced electronic topological transitions that alter its optical properties, with potential experimental observability.

Contribution

It introduces a tight binding model to analyze strain effects on graphene's reflectivity and identifies strain-dependent electronic topological transitions.

Findings

Strain modulates graphene's optical reflectivity.

Electronic topological transitions occur with strain variations.

Features in conductivity are observable within the optical range.

Abstract

We evaluate the optical reflectivity for a uniaxially strained graphene single layer between a SiO2 substrate and air. A tight binding model for the band dispersion of graphene is employed. As a function of the strain modulus and direction, graphene may traverse one of several electronic topological transitions, characterized by a change of topology of its Fermi line. This results in features in the conductivity within the optical range, which might be observable experimentally.