Conductance modulated by the strain in normal metal–graphene junctions

Abstract

The strain effects on the transport properties of normal-metal−−graphene−−normal-metal (NGN) junctions where the stress has been applied to the middle graphene strip along the armchair direction have been studied, and it is found that the strain strength in the middle graphene strip can be detected by observing the variation of the wavelength of the oscillating electron (with a constant energy) injected into the metal electrodes. The conductance expression for strained NGN junctions has been changed from the standard form ∫−11τ2dsin(θ) to ∫−11CFτ2dsin(θ) with the modulation factor CF being sensitively dependent on the strain. Apart from enhancing conductance due to the presence of strain, the tuning effects of interface hopping as well as incident energy on the conductance and shot noise have also been explored.