Electric current distribution induced by applied magnetic field in a bent graphene nanoribbon cantilever

Abstract

Abstract Graphene exhibits diamagnetism, and its origin is the orbital electric currents induced on the surface by an applied magnetic field. The magnetic response of a graphene cantilever in the presence of a magnetic field is mainly determined by the diamagnetic electric current, and spin paramagnetism, which suppresses the diamagnetism. We elucidate the change in the electric current distribution caused by the large bending of the graphene cantilever using the tight-binding model. The electric current almost disappears when the position of the graphene cantilever transitions from perpendicular to parallel to the magnetic field and reverses when the graphene cantilever is folded in half. Furthermore, the temporal change in the magnetic energy of the vibrating graphene cantilever is calculated using the molecular dynamics simulation. The strong dependence of the magnetization of a graphene cantilever on its position relative to the magnetic field can be utilized for actuating and controlling the cantilever.