Physics Colloquium-Adventures in materials flatland: Geometrical characterization of two-dimensional materials, and the most stable phase of two-dimensional tin

Adventures in materials flatland: Geometrical characterization of two-dimensional materials, and the most stable phase of two-dimensional tin

Salvador Barraza-Lopez

Assistant Professor. University of Arkansas

The physical and chemical properties of two-dimensional materials (graphene, hexagonal boron nitride, and many others) depend on a fundamental way on their shape.

What is the shape of atom-thin materials? Shape is normally prescribed on continuum surfaces using the tools from differential geometry. But there exists an alternate, and perhaps fundamental way to tell the shape of two-dimensional materials which emphasizes the fact that they are atomistic meshes [1-4]. This new prescription can help to explain the properties of “strain-engineered 2D materials” in which Physical and Chemical properties are studied within the same footing.

Towards the end I will touch upon the properties of two-dimensional tin, one of the latest two-dimensional materials being discussed at the present moment [5,6].

References:

[1] Discrete Differential Geometry. Bobenko et al. Birkhauser (Basel); 2008.

[2] Sloan et al. PRB 87, 155436 (2013)

.[3] Pacheco SanJuan et al. PRB 89, 121403(R) (2014).

[4] Pacheco SanJuan et al. ACS Nano 8, 1136 (2014).

[5] Ma et al. J. Phys. Chem C 116, 21977 (2012).

[6] Xu et al. PRL 111, 136804 (2013).