759 research outputs found
Modulation of Kekul\'e adatom ordering due to strain in graphene
Intervalley scattering of carriers in graphene at `top' adatoms may give rise
to a hidden Kekul\'e ordering pattern in the adatom positions. This ordering is
the result of a rapid modulation in the electron-mediated interaction between
adatoms at the wavevector , which has been shown experimentally and
theoretically to dominate their spatial distribution. Here we show that the
adatom interaction is extremely sensitive to strain in the supporting graphene,
which leads to a characteristic spatial modulation of the Kekul\'e order as a
function of adatom distance. Our results suggest that the spatial distributions
of adatoms could provide a way to measure the type and magnitude of strain in
graphene and the associated pseudogauge field with high accuracy.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figure
Band topology and quantum spin Hall effect in bilayer graphene
We consider bilayer graphene in the presence of spin orbit coupling, to
assess its behavior as a topological insulator. The first Chern number for
the energy bands of single and bilayer graphene is computed and compared. It is
shown that for a given valley and spin, in a bilayer is doubled with
respect to the monolayer. This implies that bilayer graphene will have twice as
many edge states as single layer graphene, which we confirm with numerical
calculations and analytically in the case of an armchair terminated surface.
Bilayer graphene is a weak topological insulator, whose surface spectrum is
susceptible to gap opening under spin-mixing perturbations. We also assess the
stability of the associated topological bulk state of bilayer graphene under
various perturbations. Finally, we consider an intermediate situation in which
only one of the two layers has spin orbit coupling, and find that although
individual valleys have non-trivial Chern numbers, the spectrum as a whole is
not gapped, so that the system is not a topological insulator.Comment: 9 pages. 9 figures include
Electron-induced rippling in graphene
We show that the interaction between flexural phonons, when corrected by the
exchange of electron-hole excitations, may place the graphene sheet very close
to a quantum critical point characterized by the strong suppression of the
bending rigidity of the membrane. Ripples arise then due to spontaneous
symmetry breaking, following a mechanism similar to that responsible for the
condensation of the Higgs field in relativistic field theories. In the presence
of membrane tensions, ripple condensation may be reinforced or suppressed
depending on the sign of the tension, following a zero-temperature buckling
transition in which the order parameter is given essentially by the square of
the gradient of the flexural phonon field.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Non-hermitian topology as a unifying framework for the Andreev versus Majorana states controversy
Zero-energy Andreev levels in hybrid semiconductor-superconductor nanowires mimic all expected Majorana phenomenology, including 2 e2∕ h conductance quantisation, even where band topology predicts trivial phases. This surprising fact has been used to challenge the interpretation of various transport experiments in terms of Majorana zero modes. Here we show that the Andreev versus Majorana controversy is clarified when framed in the language of non-Hermitian topology, the natural description for quantum systems open to the environment. This change of paradigm allows one to understand topological transitions and the emergence of zero modes in more general systems than can be described by band topology. This is achieved by studying exceptional point bifurcations in the complex spectrum of the system’s non-Hermitian Hamiltonian. Within this broader topological classification, Majoranas from both conventional band topology and a large subset of Andreev levels at zero energy are in fact topologically equivalent, which explains why they cannot be distinguishedWe thank J. Cayao for useful discussions in the early stages of this work. Research supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities through Grants PGC2018-097018-B-I00, FIS2015-65706-P, FIS2015-64654-P, FIS2016-80434-P (AEI/FEDER, EU), the FPI programme BES-2016-078122, the Ramón y Cajal programme Grants RYC-2011-09345, RYC-2013-14645, the María de Maeztu Programme for Units of Excellence in R&D (MDM-2014-0377), and the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the FETOPEN Grant Agreement No. 828948. We also acknowledge support from CSIC Research Platform on Quantum Technologies PTI-00
Zero Landau level in folded graphene nanoribbons
Graphene nanoribbons can be folded into a double layer system keeping the two
layers decoupled. In the Quantum Hall regime folds behave as a new type of Hall
bar edge. We show that the symmetry properties of the zero Landau level in
metallic nanoribbons dictate that the zero energy edge states traversing a fold
are perfectly transmitted onto the opposite layer. This result is valid
irrespective of fold geometry, magnetic field strength and crystallographic
orientation of the nanoribbon. Backscattering suppression on the N=0 Hall
plateau is ultimately due to the orthogonality of forward and backward
channels, much like in the Klein paradox.Comment: Final published version, with supplementary material appendi
Strain-induced bound states in transition-metal dichalcogenide bubbles
This is an author-created, un-copyedited version of an article published in 2D Materials. IOP Publishing Ltd is not responsible for any errors or omissions in this version of the manuscript or any version derived from it. The Version of Record is available online at https://doi.org/10.1088/2053-1583/ab0113We theoretically study the formation of single-particle bound states confined by strain at the center of bubbles in monolayers of transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs). Bubbles ubiquitously form in two-dimensional crystals on top of a substrate by the competition between van der Waals forces and the hydrostatic pressure exerted by trapped fluid. This leads to strong strain at the center of the bubble that reduces the bangap locally, creating potential wells for the electrons that confine states inside. We simulate the spectrum versus the bubble radius for the four semiconducting group VI TMDs, MoS2, WSe2, WS2 and MoSe2, and find an overall Fock-Darwin spectrum of bubble bound states, characterised by small deviations compatible with Berry curvature effects. We analyse the density of states, the state degeneracies, orbital structure and optical transition rules. Our results show that elastic bubbles in these materials are remarkably efficient at confining photocarriersWe acknowledge funding from the Graphene Flagship, contract CNECTICT-604391, from the Comunidad de Madrid through Grant MAD2D-CM, S2013/MIT-3007, from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through Grants No. RYC-2011-09345, RYC-2016-20663, FIS2015-65706-P, FIS2016-80434-P (AEI/FEDER, EU) and the María de Maeztu Programme for Units of Excellence in R&D (MDM-2014-0377
Geometric phases in semiconductor spin qubits: Manipulations and decoherence
We describe the effect of geometric phases induced by either classical or
quantum electric fields acting on single electron spins in quantum dots in the
presence of spin-orbit coupling. On one hand, applied electric fields can be
used to control the geometric phases, which allows performing quantum coherent
spin manipulations without using high-frequency magnetic fields. On the other
hand, fluctuating fields induce random geometric phases that lead to spin
relaxation and dephasing, thus limiting the use of such spins as qubits. We
estimate the decay rates due to piezoelectric phonons and conduction electrons
in the circuit, both representing dominant electric noise sources with
characteristically differing power spectra.Comment: 17 pages, 8 figures, published versio
Disorder-induced pseudodiffusive transport in graphene nanoribbons.
We study the transition from ballistic to diffusive and localized transport in graphene nanoribbons in the presence of binary disorder, which can be generated by chemical adsorbates or substitutional doping. We show that the interplay between the induced average doping (arising from the nonzero average of the disorder) and impurity scattering modifies the traditional picture of phase-coherent transport. Close to the Dirac point, intrinsic evanescent modes produced by the impurities dominate transport at short lengths giving rise to a regime analogous to pseudodiffusive transport in clean graphene, but without the requirement of heavily doped contacts. This intrinsic pseudodiffusive regime precedes the traditional ballistic, diffusive, and localized regimes. The last two regimes exhibit a strongly modified effective number of propagating modes and a mean free path which becomes anomalously large close to the Dirac point
Majorana Zero Modes in Graphene
A clear demonstration of topological superconductivity (TS) and Majorana zero
modes remains one of the major pending goal in the field of topological
materials. One common strategy to generate TS is through the coupling of an
s-wave superconductor to a helical half-metallic system. Numerous proposals for
the latter have been put forward in the literature, most of them based on
semiconductors or topological insulators with strong spin-orbit coupling. Here
we demonstrate an alternative approach for the creation of TS in
graphene/superconductor junctions without the need of spin-orbit coupling. Our
prediction stems from the helicity of graphene's zero Landau level edge states
in the presence of interactions, and on the possibility, experimentally
demonstrated, to tune their magnetic properties with in-plane magnetic fields.
We show how canted antiferromagnetic ordering in the graphene bulk close to
neutrality induces TS along the junction, and gives rise to isolated,
topologically protected Majorana bound states at either end. We also discuss
possible strategies to detect their presence in graphene Josephson junctions
through Fraunhofer pattern anomalies and Andreev spectroscopy. The latter in
particular exhibits strong unambiguous signatures of the presence of the
Majorana states in the form of universal zero bias anomalies. Remarkable
progress has recently been reported in the fabrication of the proposed type of
junctions, which offers a promising outlook for Majorana physics in graphene
systems.Comment: 14 pages, 8 figures. Included simulations of Andreev spectroscopy and
mor
Stacking boundaries and transport in bilayer graphene
Pristine bilayer graphene behaves in some instances as an insulator with a
transport gap of a few meV. This behaviour has been interpreted as the result
of an intrinsic electronic instability induced by many-body correlations.
Intriguingly, however, some samples of similar mobility exhibit good metallic
properties, with a minimal conductivity of the order of . Here we
propose an explanation for this dichotomy, which is unrelated to electron
interactions and based instead on the reversible formation of boundaries
between stacking domains (`solitons'). We argue, using a numerical analysis,
that the hallmark features of the previously inferred many-body insulating
state can be explained by scattering on boundaries between domains with
different stacking order (AB and BA). We furthermore present experimental
evidence, reinforcing our interpretation, of reversible switching between a
metallic and an insulating regime in suspended bilayers when subjected to
thermal cycling or high current annealing.Comment: 13 pages, 15 figures. Published version (Nano Letters
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