The Landau level spectrum of graphene superlattices is studied using a tight-binding approach. We consider non-interacting particles moving on a hexagonal lattice with an additional one-dimensional superlattice made up of periodic square potential ba
rriers, which are oriented along the zig-zag or along the arm-chair directions of graphene. In the presence of a perpendicular magnetic field, such systems can be described by a set of one-dimensional tight-binding equations, the Harper equations. The qualitative behavior of the energy spectrum with respect to the strength of the superlattice potential depends on the relation between the superlattice period and the magnetic length. When the potential barriers are oriented along the arm-chair direction of graphene, we find for strong magnetic fields that the zeroth Landau level of graphene splits into two well separated sublevels, if the width of the barriers is smaller than the magnetic length. In this situation, which persists even in the presence of disorder, a plateau with zero Hall conductivity can be observed around the Dirac point. This Landau level splitting is a true lattice effect that cannot be obtained from the generally used continuum Dirac-fermion model.
We study the localization properties of electrons moving on two-dimensional bi-partite lattices in the presence of disorder. The models investigated exhibit a chiral symmetry and belong to the chiral orthogonal (chO), chiral symplectic (chS) or chira
l unitary (chU) symmetry class. The disorder is introduced via real random hopping terms for chO and chS, while complex random phases generate the disorder in the chiral unitary model. In the latter case an additional spatially constant, perpendicular magnetic field is also applied. Using a transfer-matrix-method, we numerically calculate the smallest Lyapunov exponents that are related to the localization length of the electronic eigenstates. From a finite-size scaling analysis, the logarithmic divergence of the localization length at the quantum critical point at E=0 is obtained. We always find for the critical exponent kappa, which governs the energy dependence of the divergence, a value close to 2/3. This result differs from the exponent kappa=1/2 found previously for a chiral unitary model in the absence of a constant magnetic field. We argue that a strong constant magnetic field changes the exponent kappa within the chiral unitary symmetry class by effectively restoring particle-hole symmetry even though a magnetic field induced transition from the ballistic to the diffusive regime cannot be fully excluded.
The electronic states of an electrostatically confined cylindrical graphene quantum dot and the electric transport through this device are studied theoretically within the continuum Dirac-equation approximation and compared with numerical results obt
ained from a tight-binding lattice description. A spectral gap, which may originate from strain effects, additional adsorbed atoms or substrate-induced sublattice-symmetry breaking, allows for bound and scattering states. As long as the diameter of the dot is much larger than the lattice constant, the results of the continuum and the lattice model are in very good agreement. We also investigate the influence of a sloping dot-potential step, of on-site disorder along the sample edges, of uncorrelated short-range disorder potentials in the bulk, and of random magnetic-fluxes that mimic ripple-disorder. The quantum dots spectral and transport properties depend crucially on the specific type of disorder. In general, the peaks in the density of bound states are broadened but remain sharp only in the case of edge disorder.
The electronic properties of graphene zig-zag nanoribbons with electrostatic potentials along the edges are investigated. Using the Dirac-fermion approach, we calculate the energy spectrum of an infinitely long nanoribbon of finite width $w$, termina
ted by Dirichlet boundary conditions in the transverse direction. We show that a structured external potential that acts within the edge regions of the ribbon, can induce a spectral gap and thus switches the nanoribbon from metallic to insulating behavior. The basic mechanism of this effect is the selective influence of the external potentials on the spinorial wavefunctions that are topological in nature and localized along the boundary of the graphene nanoribbon. Within this single particle description, the maximal obtainable energy gap is $E_{rm max}propto pihbar v_{rm F}/w$, i.e., $approx 0.12$,eV for $w=$15,nm. The stability of the spectral gap against edge disorder and the effect of disorder on the two-terminal conductance is studied numerically within a tight-binding lattice model. We find that the energy gap persists as long as the applied external effective potential is larger than $simeq 0.55times W$, where $W$ is a measure of the disorder strength. We argue that there is a transport gap due to localization effects even in the absence of a spectral gap.
The electronic properties of non-interacting particles moving on a two-dimensional bricklayer lattice are investigated numerically. In particular, the influence of disorder in form of a spatially varying random magnetic flux is studied. In addition,
a strong perpendicular constant magnetic field $B$ is considered. The density of states $rho(E)$ goes to zero for $Eto 0$ as in the ordered system, but with a much steeper slope. This happens for both cases: at the Dirac point for B=0 and at the center of the central Landau band for finite $B$. Close to the Dirac point, the dependence of $rho(E)$ on the system size, on the disorder strength, and on the constant magnetic flux density is analyzed and fitted to an analytical expression proposed previously in connection with the thermal quantum Hall effect. Additional short-range on-site disorder completely replenishes the indentation in the density of states at the Dirac point.
The two-terminal conductance of a random flux model defined on a square lattice is investigated numerically at the band center using a transfer matrix method. Due to the chiral symmetry, there exists a critical point where the ensemble averaged mean
conductance is scale independent. We also study the conductance distribution function which depends on the boundary conditions and on the number of lattice sites being even or odd. We derive a critical exponent $ u=0.42pm 0.05$ for square samples of even width using one-parameter scaling of the conductance. This result could not be obtained previously from the divergence of the localization length in quasi-one-dimensional systems due to pronounced finite-size effects.
