No Arabic abstract
In addition to electron charge and spin, novel materials host another degree of freedom, the valley. For a junction composed of valley filter sandwiched by two normal terminals, we focus on the valley efficiency under disorder with two valley filter models based on monolayer and bilayer graphene. Applying the transfer matrix method, valley resolved transmission coefficients are obtained. We find that: i) under weak disorder, when the line defect length is over about $15rm nm$, it functions as a perfect channel (quantized conductance) and valley filter (totally polarized); ii) in the diffusive regime, combination effects of backscattering and bulk states assisted intervalley transmission enhance the conductance and suppress the valley polarization; iii) for very long line defect, though the conductance is small, polarization is indifferent to length. Under perpendicular magnetics field, the characters of charge and valley transport are only slightly affected. Finally we discuss the efficiency of transport valley polarized current in a hybrid system.
We study theoretically interaction of a bilayer graphene with a circularly polarized ultrafast optical pulse of a single oscillation at an oblique incidence. The normal component of the pulse breaks the inversion symmetry of the system and opens up a dynamical band-gap, due to which a valley-selective population of the conduction band becomes sensitive to the angle of incident of the pulse. We show that the magnitude of the valley polarization can be controlled by the angle of incidence, the amplitude, and the angle of in-plane polarization of the chiral optical pulse. Subsequently, a sequence of a circularly polarized pulse followed by a linearly polarized femtosecond-long pulse can be used to control the valley polarization created by the preceding pulse. Generally, the linearly polarized pulse depolarizes the system. The magnitude of such a depolarization depends on the amplitude, and the in-plane polarization angle of the linearly polarized pulse. Our protocol provides a favorable platform for applications in valleytronics.
We study transport in twisted bilayer graphene and show that electrostatic barriers can act as valley splitters, where electrons from the $K$ ($K$) valley are transmitted only to e.g. the top (bottom) layer, leading to valley-layer locked currents. We show that such a valley splitter is obtained when the barrier varies slowly on the moire scale and induces a Lifshitz transition across the junction, i.e. a change in the Fermi surface topology. Furthermore, we show that for a given valley the reflected and transmitted current are transversely deflected, as time-reversal symmetry is effectively broken in each valley separately, resulting in valley-selective transverse focusing at zero magnetic field.
We describe the weak localization correction to conductivity in ultra-thin graphene films, taking into account disorder scattering and the influence of trigonal warping of the Fermi surface. A possible manifestation of the chiral nature of electrons in the localization properties is hampered by trigonal warping, resulting in a suppression of the weak anti-localization effect in monolayer graphene and of weak localization in bilayer graphene. Intervalley scattering due to atomically sharp scatterers in a realistic graphene sheet or by edges in a narrow wire tends to restore weak localization resulting in negative magnetoresistance in both materials.
Atomically precise tailoring of graphene can enable unusual transport pathways and new nanometer-scale functional devices. Here we describe a recipe for the controlled production of highly regular 5-5-8 line defects in graphene by means of simultaneous electron irradiation and Joule heating by applied electric current. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy reveals individual steps of the growth process. Extending earlier theoretical work suggesting valley-discriminating capabilities of a graphene 5-5-8 line defect, we perform first-principles calculations of transport and find a strong energy dependence of valley polarization of the charge carriers across the defect. These findings inspire us to propose a compact electrostatically gated valley valve device, a critical component for valleytronics.
We study the electronic transport properties at the intersection of three topological zero-lines as the elementary current partition node that arises in minimally twisted bilayer graphene. Unlike the partition laws of two intersecting zero-lines, we find that (i) the incoming current can be partitioned into both left-right adjacent topological channels and that (ii) the forward-propagating current is nonzero. By tuning the Fermi energy from the charge-neutrality point to a band edge, the currents partitioned into the three outgoing channels become nearly equal. Moreover, we find that current partition node can be designed as a perfect valley filter and energy splitter controlled by electric gating. By changing the relative electric field magnitude, the intersection of three topological zero-lines can transform smoothly into a single zero line, and the current partition can be controlled precisely. We explore the available methods for modulating this device systematically by changing the Fermi energy, the energy gap size, and the size of central gapless region. The current partition is also influenced by magnetic fields and the system size. Our results provide a microscopic depiction of the electronic transport properties around a unit cell of minimally twisted bilayer graphene and have far-reaching implications in the design of electron-beam splitters and interferometer devices.