Optical conductivity of curved graphene

We compute the optical conductivity for an out-of-plane deformation in graphene using an approach based on solutions of the Dirac equation in curved space. Different examples of periodic deformations along one direction translates into an enhancement of the optical conductivity peaks in the region of the far- and mid-infrared frequencies for periodicities ∼100 nm. The width and position of the peaks can be changed by dialling the parameters of the deformation profiles. The enhancement of the optical conductivity is due to intraband transitions and the translational invariance breaking in the geometrically deformed background. Furthermore, we derive an analytical solution of the Dirac equation in a curved space for a general deformation along one spatial direction. For this class of geometries, it is shown that curvature induces an extra phase in the electron wave function, which can also be explored to produce interference devices of the Aharonov–Bohm type. (paper)