We have measured the quantum Hall activation gaps in bilayer graphene at filling factors $ u=pm4$ and $ u=pm8$ in high magnetic fields up to 30 T. We find that energy levels can be described by a 4-band relativistic hyperbolic dispersion. The Landau level width is found to contain a field independent background due to an intrinsic level broadening and a component which increases linearly with magnetic field.
Symmetry breaking in a quantum system often leads to complex emergent behavior. In bilayer graphene (BLG), an electric field applied perpendicular to the basal plane breaks the inversion symmetry of the lattice, opening a band gap at the charge neutrality point. In a quantizing magnetic field electron interactions can cause spontaneous symmetry breaking within the spin and valley degrees of freedom, resulting in quantum Hall states (QHS) with complex order. Here we report fractional quantum Hall states (FQHS) in bilayer graphene which show phase transitions that can be tuned by a transverse electric field. This result provides a model platform to study the role of symmetry breaking in emergent states with distinct topological order.
We have measured the magneto-resistance of freely suspended high-mobility bilayer graphene. For magnetic fields $B>1$ T we observe the opening of a field induced gap at the charge neutrality point characterized by a diverging resistance. For higher fields the eight-fold degenerated lowest Landau level lifts completely. Both the sequence of this symmetry breaking and the strong transition of the gap-size point to a ferromagnetic nature of the insulating phase developing at the charge neutrality point.
The transport properties of epitaxial graphene on SiC(0001) at quantizing magnetic fields are investigated. Devices patterned perpendicularly to SiC terraces clearly exhibit bilayer inclusions distributed along the substrate step edges. We show that the transport properties in the quantum Hall regime are heavily affected by the presence of bilayer inclusions, and observe a significant departure from the conventional quantum Hall characteristics. A quantitative model involving enhanced inter-channel scattering mediated by the presence of bilayer inclusions is presented that successfully explains the observed symmetry properties.
The multi-component nature of bilayer graphene (BLG), together with the ability to controllably tune between the various ground state orders, makes it a rich system in which to explore interaction driven phenomena. In the fractional quantum Hall effect (FQHE) regime, the unique Landau level spectrum of BLG is anticipated to support a non-Abelian even-denominator state that is tunable by both electric and magnetic fields. However, observation of this state, which is anticipated to be stronger than in conventional systems, has been conspicuously difficult. Here we report transport measurements of a robust even denominator FQHE in high-mobility, dual gated BLG devices. We confirm that the stability of the energy gap can be sensitively tuned and map the phase diagram. Our results establish BLG as a dynamic new platform to study topological ground states with possible non-Abelian excitations.
We study the low energy edge states of bilayer graphene in a strong perpendicular magnetic field. Several possible simple boundaries geometries related to zigzag edges are considered. Tight-binding calculations reveal three types of edge state behaviors: weakly, strongly, and non-dispersive edge states. These three behaviors may all be understood within a continuum model, and related by non-linear transformations to the spectra of quantum Hall edge--states in a conventional two-dimensional electron system. In all cases, the edge states closest to zero energy include a hole-like edge state of one valley and a particle-like state of the other on the same edge, which may or may not cross depending on the boundary condition. Edge states with the same spin generically have anticrossings that complicate the spectra, but which may be understood within degenerate perturbation theory. The results demonstrate that the number of edge states crossing the Fermi level in clean, undoped bilayer graphene depends BOTH on boundary conditions and the energies of the bulk states.