Mechanically and optically controlled graphene valley filter

Abstract

We theoretically investigate the valley-dependent electronic transport through a graphene monolayer modulated simultaneously by a uniform uniaxial strain and linearly polarized light. Within the Floquet formalism, we calculate the transmission probabilities and conductances of the two valleys. It is found that valley polarization can appear only if the two modulations coexist. Under a proper stretching of the sample, the ratio of the light intensity and the light frequency squared is important. If this quantity is small, the electron transport is mainly contributed by the valley-symmetric central band and the conductance is valley unpolarized; but when this quantity is large, the valley-asymmetric sidebands also take part in the transport and the valley polarization of the conductance appears. Furthermore, the degree of the polarization can be tuned by the strain strength, light intensity, and light frequency. It is proposed that the detection of the valley polarization can be realized utilizing the valley beam splitting. Thus, a graphene monolayer can be used as a mechanically and optically controlled valley filter.