We theoretically investigate the manipulation of the quantum anomalous Hall effect (QAHE) in graphene by means of the uniaxial strain. The values of Chern number and Hall conductance demonstrate that the strained graphene in presence of Rashba spin-orbit coupling and exchange field, for vanishing intrinsic spinorbit coupling, possesses non-trivial topological phase which is robust against the direction and modulus of the strain. Besides, we also find that the interplay between Rashba and intrinsic spin-orbit couplings results in a topological phase transition in the strained graphene. Remarkably, as the strain strength is increased beyond approximately 7%, the critical parameters of the exchange field for triggering the quantum anomalous Hall phase transition show distinct behaviors -decrease (increase) for strains along zigzag (armchair) direction. Our findings open up a new platform for manipulation of the QAHE by an experimentally accessible strain deformation of the graphene structure, with promising application on novel quantum electronic devices with high energy efficiency performance.

We propose a quantum electronic device based on a strained graphene nanoribbon. Mechanical strain, internal exchange field and spin-orbit couplings (SOCs) have been exploited as principle parameters to tune physical properties of the device. We predict a remarkable zero-field topological quantum phase transition between the time-reversal-symmetry broken quantum spin Hall (QSH) and quantum anomalous Hall (QAH) states, which was previously thought to take place only in the presence of finite magnetic field. We illustrate as intrinsic SOC is tuned, how two different helicity edge states located in the opposite edges of the nanoribbon exchange their locations. Our results indicates that the pseudomagnetic field induced by the strain could be coupled to the spin degrees of freedom through the SOC responsible for the stability of a QSH state. The controllability of this zero-field phase transition with strength and direction of the strain is also demonstrated. Our prediction offers a tempting prospect of strain, electric and magnetic manipulation of the QSH effect.

We theoretically investigate the spin-charge transport in two-terminal device of graphene nanoribbons in the presence of an uniform uniaxial strain, spin-orbit coupling, exchange field and smooth staggered potential. We show that the direction of applied strain can efficiently tune strain-strength induced oscillation of bandgap of armchair graphene nanoribbon (AGNR). It is also found that electronic conductance in both AGNR and zigzag graphene nanoribbons (ZGNRs) oscillates with Rashba spin-orbit coupling akin to the Datta-Das field effect transistor. Two distinct strain response regimes of electronic conductance as function of spin-orbit couplings (SOC) magnitude are found. In the regime of small strain, conductance of ZGNR presents stronger strain dependence along the longitudinal direction of strain. Whereas for high values of strain shows larger effect for the transversal direction. Furthermore, the local density of states (LDOS) shows that depending on the smoothness of the staggered potential, the edge state of AGNR can either emerge or be suppressed. These emerging states can be determined experimentally by performing spatially scanning tunneling microscope or by scanning tunneling spectroscopy. Our findings open up new paradigms of manipulation and control of strained graphene based nanostructure for application on novel topological quantum devices.

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