No Arabic abstract
The low energy continuum limit of graphene is effectively known to be modeled using Dirac equation in (2+1) dimensions. We consider the possibility of using modulated high frequency periodic driving of a two-dimension system (optical lattice) to simulate properties of rippled graphene. We suggest that the Dirac Hamiltonian in a curved background space can also be effectively simulated by a suitable driving scheme in optical lattice. The time dependent system yields, in the approximate limit of high frequency pulsing, an effective time independent Hamiltonian that governs the time evolution, except for an initial and a final kick. We use a specific form of 4-phase pulsed forcing with suitably tuned choice of modulating operators to mimic the effects of curvature. The extent of curvature is found to be directly related to $omega^{-1}$ the time period of the driving field at the leading order. We apply the method to engineer the effects of curved background space. We find that the imprint of curvilinear geometry modifies the electronic properties, such as LDOS, significantly. We suggest that this method shall be useful in studying the response of various properties of such systems to non-trivial geometry without requiring any actual physical deformations.
Electrons in a lattice exhibit time-periodic motion, known as Bloch oscillation, when subject to an additional static electric field. Here we show that a corresponding dynamics can occur upon replacing the spatially periodic potential by a time-periodic driving: Floquet oscillations of charge carriers in a spatially homogeneous system. The time lattice of the driving gives rise to Floquet bands that take on the role of the usual Bloch bands. For two different drivings (harmonic driving and periodic kicking through pulses) of systems with linear dispersion we demonstrate the existence of such oscillations, both by directly propagating wave packets and based on a complementary Floquet analysis. The Floquet oscillations feature richer oscillation patterns than their Bloch counterpart and enable the imaging of Floquet bands. Moreover, their period can be directly tuned through the driving frequency. Such oscillations should be experimentally observable in effective Dirac systems, such as graphene, when illuminated with circularly polarized light.
Valley degrees of freedom offer a potential resource for quantum information processing if they can be effectively controlled. We discuss an optical approach to this problem in which intense light breaks electronic symmetries of a two-dimensional Dirac material. The resulting quasienergy structures may then differ for different valleys, so that the Floquet physics of the system can be exploited to produce highly polarized valley currents. This physics can be utilized to realize a valley valve whose behavior is determined optically. We propose a concrete way to achieve such valleytronics in graphene as well as in a simple model of an inversion-symmetry broken Dirac material. We study the effect numerically and demonstrate its robustness against moderate disorder and small deviations in optical parameters.
The exceptionally high mobility of carriers in graphene is one of its defining characteristics, especially in view of potential applications. Therefore it is of both practical and fundamental importance to understand the mechanisms responsible for limiting the values of mobility. The aim of the paper is to study theoretically one such mechanism, i.e. scattering on ripples. The transport properties of rippled graphene are studied using using single-band tight-binding model. Both the bond-length variation, corresponding to the vector potential in the effective mass picture, and fluctuating scalar potential are included in the formalism. The samples are modeled as self-similar surfaces characterized by the roughness exponent with values ranging from typical for graphene on SiO$_{2}$ to seen in suspended samples. The range of calculated resistivities and mobilities overlaps with experiment. The results presented here support the notion of rippling as one of the factors limiting the mobility.
The topological characterization of nonequilibrium topological matter is highly nontrivial because familiar approaches designed for equilibrium topological phases may not apply. In the presence of crystal symmetry, Floquet topological insulator states cannot be easily distinguished from normal insulators by a set of symmetry eigenvalues at high symmetry points in the Brillouin zone. This work advocates a physically motivated, easy-to-implement approach to enhance the symmetry analysis to distinguish between a variety of Floquet topological phases. Using a two-dimensional inversion-symmetric periodically-driven system as an example, we show that the symmetry eigenvalues for anomalous Floquet topological states, of both first-order and second-order, are the same as for normal atomic insulators. However, the topological states can be distinguished from one another and from normal insulators by inspecting the occurrence of stable symmetry inversion points in their microscopic dynamics. The analysis points to a simple picture for understanding how topological boundary states can coexist with localized bulk states in anomalous Floquet topological phases.
For systems that can be modeled as a single-particle lattice extended along a privileged direction as, e.g., quantum wires, the so-called eigenvalue method provides full information about the propagating and evanescent modes as a function of energy. This complex-band structure method can be applied either to lattices consisting of an infinite succession of interconnected layers described by the same local Hamiltonian or to superlattices: Systems in which the spatial periodicity involves more than one layer. Here, for time-dependent systems subject to a periodic driving, we present an adapted version of the superlattice scheme capable of obtaining the Floquet states and the Floquet quasienergy spectrum. Within this scheme the time periodicity is treated as existing along spatial dimension added to the original system. The solutions at a single energy for the enlarged artificial system provide the solutions of the original Floquet problem. The method is suited for arbitrary periodic excitations including strong and anharmonic drivings. We illustrate the capabilities of the methods for both time-independent and time-dependent systems by discussing: (a) topological superconductors in multimode quantum wires with spin-orbit interaction and (b) microwave driven quantum dot in contact with a topological superconductor.