Graphene

 

Lecturer: Prof. dr. M. I. Katsnelson

M.Katsnelson@science.ru.nl

Room HG03.062, phone 52995

 

30 hours lecture, 30 hours tutorial

 

♦ Required knowledge: Bachelor Courses “Quantum Mechanics” and “Statistical Physics”

 

♦ Goals: Graphene, a recently discovered novel allotrope of carbon and the first truly two-dimensional crystal, is interesting, first, because of possible applications, second, as a prototype membrane, a testbed for statistical physics in two dimensions, and, last not least, due to deep and unexpected relations between properties of graphene and fundamental physics (relativistic quantum mechanics and quantum field theory). The course covers all these aspects of graphene physics, illustrating also some geometric and topological aspects of quantum mechanics.

 

 Subjects

 

Introduction to chemical bonding and electronic structure of carbon materials. Charge carriers in graphene as massless Dirac fermions. Electronic structure of bilayer and multilayer graphene.

 

Relativistic quantum phenomena in graphene (transport via evanescent waves, Klein tunneling, Berry phase and anomalous quantum Hall effect, etc.)

 

Edges and defects in graphene. Graphene derivates: introduction to chemistry of graphene.

 

Lattice dynamics of graphene. Theory of crystalline membranes and its applications to graphene. Electrons in fluctuating membranes. Deformation-induced gauge fields. Strain engineering.

 

Electronic transport in graphene. Magnetic effects and graphene-based spintronics.

 

 

♦ Literature

 

  M. I. Katsnelson. Graphene: Carbon in Two Dimensions (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2012)