Kinks in buckled graphene uncompressed and compressed in the longitudinal direction

TL;DR

This paper reviews the modeling of topological excitations called kinks in buckled graphene membranes, highlighting their dynamics, interactions, and potential nanoscale applications.

Contribution

It introduces new findings on the relativistic kinetic energy of graphene kinks and their damped dynamics under longitudinal compression.

Findings

Kinks exhibit relativistic kinetic energy behavior.

Damped dynamics observed in compressed membranes.

Comparison with classical scalar $4$ theory highlights unique properties.

Abstract

In this Chapter we provide a review of the main results obtained in the modeling of graphene kinks and antikinks, which are elementary topological excitations of buckled graphene membranes. We introduce the classification of kinks, as well as discuss kink-antikink scattering, and radiation-kink interaction. We also report some new findings including i) the evidence that the kinetic energy of graphene kinks is described by a relativistic expression, and ii) demonstration of damped dynamics of kinks in membranes compressed in the longitudinal direction. Special attention is paid to highlight the similarities and differences between the graphene kinks and kinks in the classical scalar $\phi^4$ theory. The unique properties of graphene kinks discussed in this Chapter may find applications in nanoscale motion.