SPIN-ORBIT COUPLING IN GRAPHENE UNDER UNIAXIAL STRAIN: TIGHT-BINDING APPROACH AND FIRST-PRINCIPLES CALCULATIONS

Abstract

Tuning the spin-orbit coupling (SOC) in graphene is highly desired for its application in spintronics. In this paper, we calculated the band gap induced by SOC in graphene under uniaxial strain from a tight-binding model, and found that the band gap has a monotonic increasing dependence on the strain in the range of -20% to 15%. Our results suggest that strain can be used as a reversible and controllable way to tune the SOC in graphene. First-principles calculations were performed, confirming the results of tight-binding approximation.