Effects of electron-electron interaction in non-uniform strained graphene

Mechanical deformations on graphene affect electronic properties and open a route for new applications. Inhomogeneous strain has been predicted to produce band gap modulations [1], band filtering and quasi-bound states [2] in nanoscale size regions. Electronic confinement amplifies the role of electron interactions, a topic of renewed interest in graphene [3], and give access to phases of matter driven by interactions. Here, we report on the role of Hubbard interactions on electronic density and transport properties of a ZGNR with inhomogeneous strain due to a collective nanosphere substrate[4]. Size and geometrical arrangement of nanospheres, determine extent and density of the locally self-doped regions. A tight-binding model with a strain-induced scalar potential and a Hubbard U-term, is solved in the mean field approximation and reveals a redistribution of the electronic density and a lattice-dependent occupation. Magnetotransport calculations show similar features to transport through a quantum dots array. Results with pseudomagnetic field and magnetic correlations are also presented.
[1] V. Torres et al. PRB 95 (2017)
[2] R. Carrillo-Bastos et al. PRB 94 (2016)
[3] H. Ryu et al., Nano Lett. 17 (2017)
[4] Y. Zhang et al. arXiv:1703.05689 (2017)