Anisotropic propagation and upper frequency limitation of terahertz waves in graphene

XY Liu and FC Wang and HA Wu, APPLIED PHYSICS LETTERS, 103, 071904 (2013).

DOI: 10.1063/1.4818683

Transverse wave propagation in single-layer graphene sheet (SLGS) is studied via molecular dynamics simulation, continuum, and non-continuum analysis. We found that the propagation of transverse waves with frequency over 3 THz is remarkably chirality-dependent. Furthermore, the wave propagation in zigzag direction remains undistorted only when the frequency is below 16 THz, while this threshold is 10 THz in the armchair direction. The minimum permissible wavelength is proposed to explain the frequency limitation due to non-continuity. Our findings lead to an improved fundamental understanding on the vibration of graphene-based nanodevices and have potential applications in design and fabrication of nanoelectromechanical systems. (C) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC.

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