title: Giant Faraday and Kerr rotation with strained graphene.
abstract: Polarized electromagnetic waves passing through (reflected from) a dielectric medium parallel to a magnetic field undergo Faraday (Kerr) rotation of their polarization. Recently, Faraday rotation angles as much as 0.1 rad were observed for terahertz waves propagating through graphene over a SiC substrate. We show that the same effect is observable with the magnetic field replaced by an in-plane strain field which induces a pseudomagnetic field in graphene. With two such sheets a rotation of π/4 can be achieved, which is the required rotation for an optical diode. Similarly a Kerr rotation of 1/4 rad is predicted from a single reflection from a strained graphene sheet.
authors.affiliation: Information Storage and Materials Laboratory, Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, National University of Singapore, Singapore. elemjc@nus.edu.sg
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Martinez
authors.forename: M B A
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Jalil
authors.forename: S G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Tan