3,156 research outputs found
Broken symmetry states and divergent resistance in suspended bilayer graphene
Graphene [1] and its bilayer have generated tremendous excitement in the
physics community due to their unique electronic properties [2]. The intrinsic
physics of these materials, however, is partially masked by disorder, which can
arise from various sources such as ripples [3] or charged impurities [4].
Recent improvements in quality have been achieved by suspending graphene flakes
[5,6], yielding samples with very high mobilities and little charge
inhomogeneity. Here we report the fabrication of suspended bilayer graphene
devices with very little disorder. We observe fully developed quantized Hall
states at magnetic fields of 0.2 T, as well as broken symmetry states at
intermediate filling factors , , and . The
devices exhibit extremely high resistance in the state that grows
with magnetic field and scales as magnetic field divided by temperature. This
resistance is predominantly affected by the perpendicular component of the
applied field, indicating that the broken symmetry states arise from many-body
interactions.Comment: 23 pages, including 4 figures and supplementary information; accepted
to Nature Physic
An analytical solution for the settlement of stone columns beneath rigid footings
This paper presents a new approximate solution to study the settlement of rigid footings resting on a soft soil improved with groups of stone columns. The solution development is fully analytical, but finite element analyses are used to verify the validity of some assumptions, such as a simplified geometric model, load distribution with depth and boundary conditions. Groups of stone columns are converted to equivalent single columns with the same cross-sectional area. So, the problem becomes axially symmetric. Soft soil is assumed as linear elastic but plastic strains are considered in the column using the Mohr-Coulomb yield criterion and a non-associated flow rule, with a constant dilatancy angle. Soil profile is divided into independent horizontal slices and equilibrium of stresses and compatibility of deformations are imposed in the vertical and horizontal directions. The solution is presented in a closed form and may be easily implemented in a spreadsheet. Comparisons of the proposed solution with numerical analyses show a good agreement for the whole range of common values, which
confirms the validity of the solution and its hypotheses. The solution also compares well with a small scale laboratory test available in literature
Transport Spectroscopy of Symmetry-Broken Insulating States in Bilayer Graphene
The flat bands in bilayer graphene(BLG) are sensitive to electric fields
E\bot directed between the layers, and magnify the electron-electron
interaction effects, thus making BLG an attractive platform for new
two-dimensional (2D) electron physics[1-5]. Theories[6-16] have suggested the
possibility of a variety of interesting broken symmetry states, some
characterized by spontaneous mass gaps, when the electron-density is at the
carrier neutrality point (CNP). The theoretically proposed gaps[6,7,10] in
bilayer graphene are analogous[17,18] to the masses generated by broken
symmetries in particle physics and give rise to large momentum-space Berry
curvatures[8,19] accompanied by spontaneous quantum Hall effects[7-9]. Though
recent experiments[20-23] have provided convincing evidence of strong
electronic correlations near the CNP in BLG, the presence of gaps is difficult
to establish because of the lack of direct spectroscopic measurements. Here we
present transport measurements in ultra-clean double-gated BLG, using
source-drain bias as a spectroscopic tool to resolve a gap of ~2 meV at the
CNP. The gap can be closed by an electric field E\bot \sim13 mV/nm but
increases monotonically with a magnetic field B, with an apparent particle-hole
asymmetry above the gap, thus providing the first mapping of the ground states
in BLG.Comment: 4 figure
The nature of localization in graphene under quantum Hall conditions
Particle localization is an essential ingredient in quantum Hall physics
[1,2]. In conventional high mobility two-dimensional electron systems Coulomb
interactions were shown to compete with disorder and to play a central role in
particle localization [3]. Here we address the nature of localization in
graphene where the carrier mobility, quantifying the disorder, is two to four
orders of magnitude smaller [4,5,6,7,8,9,10]. We image the electronic density
of states and the localized state spectrum of a graphene flake in the quantum
Hall regime with a scanning single electron transistor [11]. Our microscopic
approach provides direct insight into the nature of localization. Surprisingly,
despite strong disorder, our findings indicate that localization in graphene is
not dominated by single particle physics, but rather by a competition between
the underlying disorder potential and the repulsive Coulomb interaction
responsible for screening.Comment: 18 pages, including 5 figure
Vertical Field Effect Transistor based on Graphene-WS2 Heterostructures for flexible and transparent electronics
The celebrated electronic properties of graphene have opened way for
materials just one-atom-thick to be used in the post-silicon electronic era. An
important milestone was the creation of heterostructures based on graphene and
other two-dimensional (2D) crystals, which can be assembled in 3D stacks with
atomic layer precision. These layered structures have already led to a range of
fascinating physical phenomena, and also have been used in demonstrating a
prototype field effect tunnelling transistor - a candidate for post-CMOS
technology. The range of possible materials which could be incorporated into
such stacks is very large. Indeed, there are many other materials where layers
are linked by weak van der Waals forces, which can be exfoliated and combined
together to create novel highly-tailored heterostructures. Here we describe a
new generation of field effect vertical tunnelling transistors where 2D
tungsten disulphide serves as an atomically thin barrier between two layers of
either mechanically exfoliated or CVD-grown graphene. Our devices have
unprecedented current modulation exceeding one million at room temperature and
can also operate on transparent and flexible substrates
Substrate-induced band gap opening in epitaxial graphene
Graphene has shown great application potentials as the host material for next
generation electronic devices. However, despite its intriguing properties, one
of the biggest hurdles for graphene to be useful as an electronic material is
its lacking of an energy gap in the electronic spectra. This, for example,
prevents the use of graphene in making transistors. Although several proposals
have been made to open a gap in graphene's electronic spectra, they all require
complex engineering of the graphene layer. Here we show that when graphene is
epitaxially grown on the SiC substrate, a gap of ~ 0.26 is produced. This gap
decreases as the sample thickness increases and eventually approaches zero when
the number of layers exceeds four. We propose that the origin of this gap is
the breaking of sublattice symmetry owing to the graphene-substrate
interaction. We believe our results highlight a promising direction for band
gap engineering of graphene.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures; updated reference
Magnetic Catalysis and Quantum Hall Ferromagnetism in Weakly Coupled Graphene
We study the realization in a model of graphene of the phenomenon whereby the
tendency of gauge-field mediated interactions to break chiral symmetry
spontaneously is greatly enhanced in an external magnetic field. We prove that,
in the weak coupling limit, and where the electron-electron interaction
satisfies certain mild conditions, the ground state of charge neutral graphene
in an external magnetic field is a quantum Hall ferromagnet which spontaneously
breaks the emergent U(4) symmetry to U(2)XU(2).
We argue that, due to a residual CP symmetry, the quantum Hall ferromagnet
order parameter is given exactly by the leading order in perturbation theory.
On the other hand, the chiral condensate which is the order parameter for
chiral symmetry breaking generically obtains contributions at all orders. We
compute the leading correction to the chiral condensate. We argue that the
ensuing fermion spectrum resembles that of massive fermions with a vanishing
U(4)-valued chemical potential. We discuss the realization of parity and charge
conjugation symmetries and argue that, in the context of our model, the charge
neutral quantum Hall state in graphene is a bulk insulator, with vanishing
longitudinal conductivity due to a charge gap and Hall conductivity vanishing
due to a residual discrete particle-hole symmetry.Comment: 35 page
Microscopic Polarization in Bilayer Graphene
Bilayer graphene has drawn significant attention due to the opening of a band
gap in its low energy electronic spectrum, which offers a promising route to
electronic applications. The gap can be either tunable through an external
electric field or spontaneously formed through an interaction-induced symmetry
breaking. Our scanning tunneling measurements reveal the microscopic nature of
the bilayer gap to be very different from what is observed in previous
macroscopic measurements or expected from current theoretical models. The
potential difference between the layers, which is proportional to charge
imbalance and determines the gap value, shows strong dependence on the disorder
potential, varying spatially in both magnitude and sign on a microscopic level.
Furthermore, the gap does not vanish at small charge densities. Additional
interaction-induced effects are observed in a magnetic field with the opening
of a subgap when the zero orbital Landau level is placed at the Fermi energy
Single to Double Hump Transition in the Equilibrium Distribution Function of Relativistic Particles
We unveil a transition from single peaked to bimodal velocity distribution in
a relativistic fluid under increasing temperature, in contrast with a
non-relativistic gas, where only a monotonic broadening of the bell-shaped
distribution is observed. Such transition results from the interplay between
the raise in thermal energy and the constraint of maximum velocity imposed by
the speed of light. We study the Bose-Einstein, the Fermi-Dirac, and the
Maxwell-J\"uttner distributions, all exhibiting the same qualitative behavior.
We characterize the nature of the transition in the framework of critical
phenomena and show that it is either continuous or discontinuous, depending on
the group velocity. We analyze the transition in one, two, and three
dimensions, with special emphasis on two-dimensions, for which a possible
experiment in graphene, based on the measurement of the Johnson-Nyquist noise,
is proposed.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure
Single valley Dirac fermions in zero-gap HgTe quantum wells
Dirac fermions have been studied intensively in condensed matter physics in
recent years. Many theoretical predictions critically depend on the number of
valleys where the Dirac fermions are realized. In this work, we report the
discovery of a two dimensional system with a single valley Dirac cone. We study
the transport properties of HgTe quantum wells grown at the critical thickness
separating between the topologically trivial and the quantum spin Hall phases.
At high magnetic fields, the quantized Hall plateaus demonstrate the presence
of a single valley Dirac point in this system. In addition, we clearly observe
the linear dispersion of the zero mode spin levels. Also the conductivity at
the Dirac point and its temperature dependence can be understood from single
valley Dirac fermion physics.Comment: version 2: supplementary material adde
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