Parity Conservation in Electron-Phonon Scattering in Zigzag Graphene Nanoribbon

TL;DR

This paper investigates how parity conservation influences electron-phonon scattering in zigzag graphene nanoribbons, revealing a new selection rule due to their inversion symmetry, which differs from carbon nanotubes.

Contribution

It introduces a parity conservation selection rule for electron-phonon interactions in zigzag graphene nanoribbons with even dimers, based on their inversion symmetry.

Findings

Parity conservation affects electron-phonon scattering processes.

A scattering matrix model is developed using tight-binding and deformation potential approximation.

The selection rule differs from that in carbon nanotubes due to boundary conditions.

Abstract

In contrast with carbon nanotubes, the absence of translational symmetry (or periodical boundary condition) in the restricted direction of zigzag graphene nanoribbon removes the selection rule of subband number conservation. However, zigzag graphene nanoribbons with even dimers do have the inversion symmetry. We, therefore, propose a selection rule of parity conservation for electron-phonon interactions. The electron-phonon scattering matrix in zigzag graphene nanoribbons is developed using the tight-binging model within the deformation potential approximation.