Harvesting and storing laser energy with graphene-cu compound structure

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that graphene-copper compound structures can convert laser energy into electrical power and effectively store it over time, using advanced first-principles simulations.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed simulation-based analysis of laser energy harvesting and storage in graphene-copper compounds, revealing charge transfer and energy retention mechanisms.

Findings

Laser-induced charge transfer from copper to graphene observed.

Energy storage indicated by dipole shifts and oscillations.

Charge transfer efficiency depends on laser frequency.

Abstract

Graphene-metal compound structure has been reported as a novel and outstanding component used in electrical and optical devices. We report on a first-principles study of graphene-cu compound structure, showing its capacity of converting laser energy into electrical power and storing the harvested energy for a long time. A real-time and real-space time-dependent density functional method (TDDFT) is applied for the simulation of electrons dynamics and energy absorption. The laser-induced charge transfer from copper layer to graphene layer is observed and represented by plane-averaged electron difference and dipoles. The effects of laser frequency on the excitation energy and charge transfer are studied as well. The enhancement of C-C {\sigma}-bond and decreasing of electron density corresponding to {\pi}-bond within graphene layer indicate the way in which the transferred-charges are stored. In addition, the shift and oscillations of dipole along z-direction after the application of laser pulse offer a concept that the compound structure has the ability of storing the harvested energy for a long time.