One- and two-particle effects in the electronic and optical spectra of barium fluoride.

One- and two-particle effects in the electronic and optical spectra of the fluoride compound BaF2 are determined using density functional theory and a many-body perturbation scheme. A wide energy range has been considered, including the visible and all the ultraviolet region. The GW approximation for the electronic self-energy has been used to tackle the one-particle excitations problem, enabling us to determine the electronic energy bands and densities of states of this fluoride.

Folds and buckles at the nanoscale: experimental and theoretical investigation of the bending properties of graphene membranes.

The elastic properties of graphene crystals have been extensively investigated, revealing unique properties in the linear and nonlinear regimes, when the membranes are under either stretching or bending loading conditions. Nevertheless less knowledge has been developed so far on folded graphene membranes and ribbons. It has been recently suggested that fold-induced curvatures, without in-plane strain, can affect the local chemical reactivity, the mechanical properties, and the electron transfer in graphene membranes.

Folded graphene membranes: mapping curvature at the nanoscale.

While the unique elastic properties of monolayer graphene have been extensively investigated, less knowledge has been developed so far on folded graphene. Nevertheless, it has been recently suggested that fold-induced curvature (without in-plane strain) could possibly affect the local chemical and electron transport properties of graphene, envisaging a material-by-design approach where tailored membranes are used in enhanced nanoresonators or nanoelectromechanical devices. In this work we propose a novel method combining apparent strain analysis from high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HREM) images and theoretical modeling based on continuum elasticity theory and tight-binding atomistic simulations to map and measure the nanoscale curvature of graphene folds and wrinkles.

Elastic fields and moduli in defected graphene.

By means of tight-binding atomistic simulations we study a family of native defects in graphene which have recently been detected experimentally. Their formation energy is found to be as large as several electronvolts, consistent with the empirical evidence of high crystalline quality in most graphene samples. Defects, especially if associated with bond reconstructions, induce sizable deformation and stress fields with a spatial distribution closely related to their actual symmetry.

Nonlinear elasticity of monolayer graphene.

By combining continuum elasticity theory and tight-binding atomistic simulations, we work out the constitutive nonlinear stress-strain relation for graphene stretching elasticity and we calculate all the corresponding nonlinear elastic moduli. Present results represent a robust picture on elastic behavior and provide the proper interpretation of recent experiments. In particular, we discuss the physical meaning of the effective nonlinear elastic modulus there introduced and we predict its value in good agreement with available data.