We investigate the optical response of Kekulé-Y graphene under uniaxial strain and carrier doping. Using a low-energy effective Hamiltonian, we show that strain reshapes the low-energy electronic structure of the Kekulé-Y phase and induces van Hove singularities at energies well below those of pristine graphene. Within the Kubo formalism, we calculate the optical conductivity and identify multiple anisotropic interband features, with a pronounced resonance arising from strain-induced van Hove singularities. The pronounced resonance is strongly anisotropic and robust against moderate thermal broadening and disorder, providing a clear optical signature of Kekulé-Y ordering. We further derive analytical expressions for the low-energy optical conductivity and the Drude weight, providing a detailed characterization of the strain- and doping-dependent optical response. Our results establish strain engineering as an effective route for controlling valley-dependent optical properties in Kekulé-Y graphene, originating from the Kekulé-induced coupling of the Dirac valleys, and suggest feasible optical probes for the experimental identification of the Kekulé-Y phase.

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• Dielectric properties
• Graphene
• Tight-binding model