Cyclotron motion of charge carriers in metals and semiconductors leads to Landau quantization and magneto-oscillatory behavior in their properties. Cryogenic temperatures are usually required to observe these oscillations. We show that graphene superlattices support a different type of quantum oscillations that do not rely on Landau quantization. The oscillations are extremely robust and persist well above room temperature in magnetic fields of only a few T. We attribute this phenomenon to repetitive changes in the electronic structure of superlattices such that charge carriers experience effectively no magnetic field at simple fractions of the flux quantum per superlattice unit cell. Our work points at unexplored physics in Hofstadter butterfly systems at high temperatures.
Umklapp processes play a fundamental role as the only intrinsic mechanism that allows electrons to transfer momentum to the crystal lattice and, therefore, provide a finite electrical resistance in pure metals. However, umklapp scattering has proven to be elusive in experiment as it is easily obscured by other dissipation mechanisms. Here we show that electron-electron umklapp scattering dominates the transport properties of graphene-on-boron-nitride superlattices over a wide range of temperatures and carrier densities. The umklapp processes cause giant excess resistivity that rapidly increases with increasing the superlattice period and are responsible for deterioration of the room-temperature mobility by more than an order of magnitude as compared to standard, non-superlattice graphene devices. The umklapp scattering exhibits a quadratic temperature dependence accompanied by a pronounced electron-hole asymmetry with the effect being much stronger for holes rather than electrons. Aside from fundamental interest, our results have direct implications for design of possible electronic devices based on heterostructures featuring superlattices.
Graphene superlattices were shown to exhibit high-temperature quantum oscillations due to periodic emergence of delocalized Bloch states in high magnetic fields such that unit fractions of the flux quantum pierce a superlattice unit cell. Under these conditions, semiclassical electron trajectories become straight again, similar to the case of zero magnetic field. Here we report magnetotransport measurements that reveal second, third and fourth order magnetic Bloch states at high electron densities and temperatures above 100 K. The recurrence of these states creates a fractal pattern intimately related to the origin of Hofstadter butterflies. The hierarchy of the fractal states is determined by the width of magnetic minibands, in qualitative agreement with our band structure calculations.
We investigate the electronic Bloch oscillation in bilayer graphene gradient superlattices using transfer matrix method. By introducing two kinds of gradient potentials of square barriers along electrons propagation direction, we find that Bloch oscillations up to terahertz can occur. Wannier-Stark ladders, as the counterpart of Bloch oscillation, are obtained as a series of equidistant transmission peaks, and the localization of the electronic wave function is also signature of Bloch oscillation. Forthermore, the period of Bloch oscillation decreases linearly with increasing gradient of barrier potentials.
We report the experimental observation of commensurability oscillations (COs) in 1D graphene superlattices. The widely tunable periodic potential modulation in hBN encapsulated graphene is generated via the interplay of nanopatterned few layer graphene acting as a local bottom gate and a global Si back gate. The longitudinal magneto-resistance shows pronounced COs, when the sample is tuned into the unipolar transport regime. We observe up to six CO minima, providing evidence for a long mean free path despite the potential modulation. Comparison to existing theories shows that small angle scattering is dominant in hBN/graphene/hBN heterostructures. We observe robust COs persisting to temperature exceeding $T=150$ K. At high temperatures, we find deviations from the predicted $T$-dependence, which we ascribe to electron-electron scattering.
We consider a square lattice configuration of circular gate-defined quantum dots in an unbiased graphene sheet and calculate the electronic, particularly spectral properties of finite albeit actual sample sized systems by means of a numerically exact kernel polynomial expansion technique. Analyzing the local density of states and the momentum resolved photoemission spectrum we find clear evidence for a series of quasi-bound states at the dots, which can be probed by optical measurements. We further analyze the interplay of the superlattice structure with dot localized modes on the electron energy dispersion. Effects of disordered dot lattices are discussed too.
R. Krishna Kumar
,X. Chen
,G. H. Auton
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(2017)
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"High-temperature quantum oscillations caused by recurring Bloch states in graphene superlattices"
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Andre Geim K
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