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Magnetic field screening and mirroring in graphene
Mikito Koshino1, Yasunori Arimura, Tsuneya Ando
1Department of Physics, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo 152-8551, Japan.
Physical Review Letters
|June 13, 2009
Summary
Monolayer graphene acts as a magnetic shield in spatially varying fields, repelling magnetic objects with a strong diamagnetic force. This shielding effect diminishes as the Fermi wave number (kF) increases.
Area of Science:
- Condensed matter physics
- Materials science
- Quantum mechanics
Background:
- Conventional two-dimensional electron systems exhibit distinct magnetic field interactions.
- Understanding orbital magnetism is crucial for novel electronic devices.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate orbital magnetism in monolayer graphene under spatially varying magnetic fields.
- To analyze the magnetic shielding properties of graphene.
Main Methods:
- Effective-mass approximation was employed.
- Theoretical analysis of magnetic field interactions was performed.
Main Results:
- Monolayer graphene acts as a magnetic shield, screening magnetic fields by a constant factor.
- A diamagnetic force repels magnetic objects from graphene, akin to a reduced mirror image.
- This shielding effect is significant for small Fermi wave numbers (kF) and disappears at larger kF.
- The repulsive force is considerably stronger than in conventional 2D systems.
Conclusions:
- Monolayer graphene exhibits unique magnetic shielding properties not seen in conventional 2D systems.
- The observed diamagnetic repulsion offers potential for new applications in magnetic field manipulation.
- The dependence on Fermi wave number highlights the tunable nature of graphene's magnetic response.
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