Strain-induced pseudomagnetic field in the Dirac semimetal borophene

Abstract

A tight-binding model of 8-$Pmmn$ borophene, a two-dimensional boron crystal, is developed. We confirm that the crystal hosts massless Dirac fermions and the Dirac points are protected by symmetry. Strain is introduced into the model, and it is shown to induce a pseudomagnetic field vector potential and a scalar potential. The dependence of the potentials on the strain tensor is calculated. The physical effects controlled by the pseudomagnetic field are discussed.