Transport in Bilayer Graphene: Calculations within a self-consistent Born approximation

The transport properties of a bilayer graphene are studied theoretically within a self-consistent Born approximation. The electronic spectrum is composed of $k$-linear dispersion in the low-energy region and $k$-square dispersion as in an ordinary two-dimensional metal at high energy, leading to a crossover between different behaviors in the conductivity on changing the Fermi energy or disorder strengths. We find that the conductivity approaches $2e^2/\pi^2\hbar$ per spin in the strong-disorder regime, independently of the short- or long-range disorder.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure

Quantum oscillations in a topological insulator Bi_{1-x}Sb_{x}

We have studied transport and magnetic properties of Bi_{1-x}Sb_x, which is believed to be a topological insulator - a new state of matter where an insulating bulk supports an intrinsically metallic surface. In nominally insulating Bi_{0.91}Sb_{0.09} crystals, we observed strong quantum oscillations of the magnetization and the resistivity originating from a Fermi surface which has a clear two-dimensional character. In addition, a three-dimensional Fermi surface is found to coexist, which is possibly due to an unusual coupling of the bulk to the surface. This finding demonstrates that quantum oscillations can be a powerful tool to directly probe the novel electronic states in topological insulators.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Doping n-type carriers by La-substitution for Ba in YBa_2Cu_3O_y system

Thus far, there is no cuprate system where both n-type and p-type charge carriers can be doped without changing the crystallographic structure. For studying the electron-hole symmetry in an identical structure, we try to dope n-type carriers to YBa2Cu3Oy system by reducing oxygen content and substituting La3+ ions for Ba2+. Single crystals of La-doped YBa2Cu3Oy are grown by a flux method with Y2O3 crucibles and it is confirmed that La actually substitutes \~13% of Ba. The oxygen content y can be varied between 6.21 and 6.95 by annealing the crystals in an atmosphere with controlled oxygen partial pressure. The in-plane resistivity rho_ab at room temperature was found to increase with decreasing oxygen content y down to 6.32, but interestingly further decrease in y results in a decrease in rho_ab. The most reduced samples with y = 6.21 show rho_ab of ~30 mOhm cm at room temperature, which is as much as seven orders-of-magnitude smaller than the maximum value at y = 6.32. Furthermore, both the Hall coefficient and the Seebeck coefficient of the y = 6.21 samples are found to be negative at room temperatures. The present results demonstrate that the non-doped Mott-insulating state has been crossed upon reducing y and n-type carriers are successfully doped in this material.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, 1 table, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Can Dark Matter Annihilation Dominate the Extragalactic Gamma-Ray Background?

Annihilating dark matter (DM) has been discussed as a possible source of gamma-rays from the galactic center (GC) and contributing to the extragalactic gamma-ray background (EGB). Assuming universality of the density profile of DM halos, we show that it is quite unlikely that DM annihilation is a main constituent of EGB, without exceeding the observed gamma-ray flux from the GC. This argument becomes stronger when we include enhancement of the density profiles by supermassive black holes or baryon cooling. The presence of substructure may loosen the constraint, but only if a very large cross section as well as the rather flat profile are realized.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, accepted by PR

Magnetic shape-memory effects in La2-xSrxCuO4 crystals

The magnetic field affects the motion of electrons and the orientation of spins in solids, but it is believed to have little impact on the crystal structure. This common perception has been challenged recently by ferromagnetic shape-memory alloys, where the spin-lattice coupling is so strong that crystallographic axes even in a fixed sample are forced to rotate, following the direction of moments. One would, however, least expect any structural change to be induced in antiferromagnets where spins are antiparallel and give no net moment. Here we report on such unexpected magnetic shape-memory effects that take place ironically in one of the best-studied 2D antiferromagnets, La2-xSrxCuO4 (LSCO). We find that lightly-doped LSCO crystals tend to align their b axis along the magnetic field, and if the crystal orientation is fixed, this alignment occurs through the generation and motion of crystallographic twin boundaries. Both resistivity and magnetic susceptibility exhibit curious switching and memory effects induced by the crystal-axes rotation; moreover, clear kinks moving over the crystal surfaces allow one to watch the crystal rearrangement directly with a microscope or even bare eyes.Comment: 3 pages, 4 figures; shortend version of this paper has been published in Nature as a Brief Communicatio

Magneto-optical properties of multilayer graphenes

The magneto-optical absorption properties of graphene multilayers are theoretically studied. It is shown that the spectrum can be decomposed into sub-components effectively identical to the monolayer or bilayer graphene, allowing us to understand the spectrum systematically as a function of the layer number. Odd-layered graphenes always exhibit absorption peaks which shifts in proportion to sqrt(B), with B being the magnetic field, due to the existence of an effective monolayer-like subband. We propose a possibility of observing the monolayer-like spectrum even in a mixture of multilayer graphene films with various layers numbers.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figure

Metal-to-Insulator Crossover in the Low-Temperature Normal State of Bi_{2}Sr_{2-x}La_{x}CuO_{6+\delta}

We measure the normal-state in-plane resistivity of La-doped Bi-2201 single crystals at low temperatures by suppressing superconductivity with 60-T pulsed magnetic fields. With decreasing hole doping, we observe a crossover from a metallic to insulating behavior in the low-temperature normal state. This crossover is estimated to occur near 1/8 doping, well inside the underdoped regime, and not at optimum doping as reported for other cuprates. The insulating regime is marked by a logarithmic temperature dependence of the resistivity over two decades of temperature, suggesting that a peculiar charge localization is common to the cuprates.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in PR