No Arabic abstract
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 have observed commensurability oscillations (CO) in the Hall resistance $R_{yx}$ of a unidirectional lateral superlattice (ULSL). The CO, having small amplitudes ($sim$ 1 $Omega$) and being superposed on a roughly three-orders of magnitude larger background, are obtained by directly detecting the difference in $R_{yx}$ between the ULSL area and the adjacent unmodulated two-dimensional electron gas area, and then extracting the odd part with respect to the magnetic field. The CO thus obtained are compared with a theoretical calculation and turn out to have the amplitude much smaller than the theoretical prediction. The implication of the smaller-than-predicted CO in $R_{yx}$ on the thermoelectric power of ULSL is briefly discussed.
Hybrid lateral superlattices composed of a square array of antidots and a periodic one-dimensional magnetic modulation are prepared in $mathrm{Ga[Al]As}$ heterostructures. The two-dimensional electron gases exposed to these superlattices are characterized by magnetotransport experiments in vanishing average perpendicular magnetic fields. Despite the absence of closed orbits, the diagonal magnetoresistivity in the direction perpendicular to the magnetic modulation shows pronounced classical resonances. They are located at magnetic fields where snake trajectories exist which are quasi-commensurate with the antidot lattice. The diagonal magnetoresistivity in the direction of the magnetic modulation increases sharply above a threshold magnetic field and shows no fine structure. The experimental results are interpreted with the help of numerical simulations based on the semiclassical Kubo model.
One-dimensional (1D) graphene superlattices have been predicted to exhibit zero-energy modes a decade ago, but an experimental proof has remained missing. Motivated by a recent experiment that could possibly shed light on this, here we perform quantum transport simulations for 1D graphene superlattices, considering electrostatically simulated potential profiles as realistic as possible. Combined with the analysis on the corresponding miniband structures, we find that the zero modes generated by the 1D superlattice potential can be further cloned to higher energies, which are also accessible by tuning the average density. Our multiterminal transverse magnetic focusing simulations further reveal the modulation-controllable ballistic miniband transport for 1D graphene superlattices. A simple idea for creating a perfectly symmetric periodic potential with strong modulation is proposed at the end of this work, generating well aligned zero modes up to 6 within a reasonable gate strength.
We report an efficient technique to induce gate-tunable two-dimensional superlattices in graphene by the combined action of a back gate and a few-layer graphene patterned bottom gate complementary to existing methods. The patterned gates in our approach can be easily fabricated and implemented in van der Waals stacking procedures allowing flexible use of superlattices with arbitrary geometry. In transport measurements on a superlattice with lattice constant $a=40$ nm well pronounced satellite Dirac points and signatures of the Hofstadter butterfly including a non-monotonic quantum Hall response are observed. Furthermore, the experimental results are accurately reproduced in transport simulations and show good agreement with features in the calculated band structure. Overall, we present a comprehensive picture of graphene-based superlattices, featuring a broad range of miniband effects, both in experiment and in theoretical modeling. The presented technique is suitable for studying more advanced geometries which are not accessible by other methods.
We have measured the rf magnetoconductivity of unidirectional lateral superlattices (ULSLs) by detecting the attenuation of microwave through a coplanar waveguide placed on the surface. ULSL samples with the principal axis of the modulation perpendicular (S_perp) and parallel (S_||) to the microwave electric field are examined. For low microwave power, we observe expected anisotropic behavior of the commensurability oscillations (CO), with CO in samples S_perp and S_|| dominated by the diffusion and the collisional contributions, respectively. Amplitude modulation of the Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations is observed to be more prominent in sample S_||. The difference between the two samples is washed out with the increase of the microwave power, letting the diffusion contribution govern the CO in both samples. The failure of the intended directional selectivity in the conductivity measured with high microwave power is interpreted in terms of large-angle electron-phonon scattering.