Electron Transmission Across Normal Metal-Strained Graphene-Normal Metal Junctions

TL;DR

This study investigates electron transmission in strained graphene junctions, revealing how strain, energy, and junction length influence conductance and resonance structures, with potential applications in strain sensing.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of how strain and junction parameters affect electron transmission and conductance in graphene-based junctions, highlighting resonance phenomena.

Findings

Strain increases resonance peaks and conductance.

Longer graphene segments host more quasi-resonance states.

Strain enhances wavefunction period, useful for sensing.

Abstract

The transmission of the electron across the single normal metal-graphene (NG) and normal-metal-graphene-normal-metal (NGN) junctions has been investigated. For the single NG junction, the profile of the maximum transmission which has been plotted against the dimensionless interface hopping respectively bears similarity to that of the conductance of the system. The minor effect of the incidence energy on transmission can also be found in conductance of the single NG junction whose tunneling behavior poses a striking difference from that of the NGN junction. Concerning with NGN junction, the transmission and conductance show more abundant structures when subjected to different incidence energies, interface hopping, and strain strengths. The increase of strain strength always induces more resonance peaks at different angles in transmission and can therefore enhance the conductance. The increase of length of the middle graphene segment can accommodate more quasi-resonance states, leading to the more resonance peaks and richer structures in transmission. In both single NG and NGN junctions, the increase of the wavefunction period on metal side(s) can be observed due to the enhancement of strain strength, which can serve as the sensor for the detection of the strain strength in graphene.