title: Strong Modulation of Optical Properties in Black Phosphorus through Strain-Engineered Rippling.
abstract: Controlling the bandgap through local-strain engineering is an exciting avenue for tailoring optoelectronic materials. Two-dimensional crystals are particularly suited for this purpose because they can withstand unprecedented nonhomogeneous deformations before rupture; one can literally bend them and fold them up almost like a piece of paper. Here, we study multilayer black phosphorus sheets subjected to periodic stress to modulate their optoelectronic properties. We find a remarkable shift of the optical absorption band-edge of up to ∼0.7 eV between the regions under tensile and compressive stress, greatly exceeding the strain tunability reported for transition metal dichalcogenides. This observation is supported by theoretical models that also predict that this periodic stress modulation can yield to quantum confinement of carriers at low temperatures. The possibility of generating large strain-induced variations in the local density of charge carriers opens the door for a variety of applications including photovoltaics, quantum optics, and two-dimensional optoelectronic devices.
authors.affiliation: Department de Física de la Materia Condensada, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid , 28049 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Quereda
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Madrid, CSIC , Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz 3, 28049 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Pablo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: San-Jose
authors.affiliation: Instituto Madrileño de Estudios Avanzados en Nanociencia (IMDEA-Nanociencia) , Campus de Cantoblanco, E-28049 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Vincenzo
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Parente
authors.affiliation: Instituto Madrileño de Estudios Avanzados en Nanociencia (IMDEA-Nanociencia) , Campus de Cantoblanco, E-28049 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Luis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Vaquero-Garzon
authors.affiliation: Department de Física de la Materia Condensada, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid , 28049 Madrid, Spain.|Instituto Madrileño de Estudios Avanzados en Nanociencia (IMDEA-Nanociencia) , Campus de Cantoblanco, E-28049 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Aday J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Molina-Mendoza
authors.affiliation: Department de Física de la Materia Condensada, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid , 28049 Madrid, Spain.|Instituto Madrileño de Estudios Avanzados en Nanociencia (IMDEA-Nanociencia) , Campus de Cantoblanco, E-28049 Madrid, Spain.|Condensed Matter Physics Center (IFIMAC), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid , E-28049 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Nicolás
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Agraït
authors.affiliation: Department de Física de la Materia Condensada, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid , 28049 Madrid, Spain.|Condensed Matter Physics Center (IFIMAC), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid , E-28049 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Gabino
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Rubio-Bollinger
authors.affiliation: Instituto Madrileño de Estudios Avanzados en Nanociencia (IMDEA-Nanociencia) , Campus de Cantoblanco, E-28049 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Francisco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Guinea
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Madrid, CSIC , Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz 3, 28049 Madrid, Spain.|Instituto Madrileño de Estudios Avanzados en Nanociencia (IMDEA-Nanociencia) , Campus de Cantoblanco, E-28049 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Rafael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Roldán
authors.affiliation: Instituto Madrileño de Estudios Avanzados en Nanociencia (IMDEA-Nanociencia) , Campus de Cantoblanco, E-28049 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Andres
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Castellanos-Gomez
keywords: Black phosphorus; local strain; optical absorption; periodic deformation; quantum confinement; strain engineering; uniaxial strain