2007/09/25 by Chao Zhang, Lei Chen, Zhongshui Ma
Chemistry · Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Anisotropy #Birefringence #Carbon Nanotubes in Composites #Chemistry #Condensed matter physics #Conductivity #Electron #Graphene #Graphene research and applications #Kubo formula #Materials science #Molecular physics #Nanotechnology #Optical conductivity #Optics #Photon #Physics #Polarization (electrochemistry) #Polarizer #Quantum and electron transport phenomena #Quantum mechanics #Spectral line #Zigzag #cond-mat.mes-hall
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevb.77.241402
5 pages, 5 figures
arxiv created 2007/09/25 · openalex publication_date 2008/06/16 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
On the basis of the Kubo formula we evaluated the optical conductivity of a graphene sheet. The full behavior of frequency as well as temperature dependence of the optical conductivity is presented. We show that the anisotropy of conductivity can be significantly enhanced at high frequencies. The photon absorption depends on the field polarization direction. At the frequency comparable to the maximum separation of upper and lower bands the photon-induced conduction of electrons is strongly suppressed if the polarization of field is along the zigzag direction. The corresponding optical conductivity is several orders of magnitude weaker than that when the light is polarizing along the armchair direction. We propose that the property of orientation selection of absorption in the graphene can be used as a basis for a high-frequency partial polarizer.