Folded graphene flakes are a natural byproduct of the micromechanical exfoliation process. In this Letter we show by a combination of analytical and numerical methods that such systems behave as intriguing interferometers due to the interplay between an externally applied magnetic field and the gauge field induced by the deformations in the region of the fold.
We study electronic transport in graphene under the influence of a transversal magnetic field $f{B}(f{r})=B(x)f{e}_z$ with the asymptotics $B(xtopminfty)=pm B_0$, which could be realized via a folded graphene sheet in a constant magnetic field, for e
xample. By solving the effective Dirac equation, we find robust modes with a finite energy gap which propagate along the fold -- where particles and holes move in opposite directions. Exciting these particle-hole pairs with incident photons would then generate a nearly perfect charge separation and thus a strong magneto-thermoelectric (Nernst-Ettingshausen) or magneto-photoelectric effect -- even at room temperature.
Dirac fermions in graphene can be subjected to non-abelian gauge fields by implementing certain modulations of the carbon site potentials. Artificial graphene, engineered with a lattice of CO molecules on top of the surface of Cu, offers an ideal are
na to study their effects. In this work, we show by symmetry arguments how the underlying CO lattice must be deformed to obtain these gauge fields, and estimate their strength. We also discuss the fundamental differences between abelian and non-abelian gauge fields from the Dirac electrons point of view, and show how a constant (non-abelian) magnetic field gives rise to either a Landau level spectrum or a quadratic band touching, depending on the gauge field that realizes it (a known feature of non-abelian gauge fields known as the Wu-Yang ambiguity). We finally present the characteristic signatures of these effects in the site-resolved density of states that can be directly measured in the current molecular graphene experiment, and discuss prospects to realize the interaction induced broken symmetry states of a quadratic touching in this system.
We theoretically investigate a folded bilayer graphene structure as an experimentally realizable platform to produce the one-dimensional topological zero-line modes. We demonstrate that the folded bilayer graphene under an external gate potential ena
bles tunable topologically conducting channels to be formed in the folded region, and that a perpendicular magnetic field can be used to enhance the conducting when external impurities are present. We also show experimentally that our proposed folded bilayer graphene structure can be fabricated in a controllable manner. Our proposed system greatly simplifies the technical difficulty in the original proposal by considering a planar bilayer graphene (i.e., precisely manipulating the alignment between vertical and lateral gates on bilayer graphene), laying out a new strategy in designing practical low-power electronics by utilizing the gate induced topological conducting channels.
Electron spins in a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) can be manipulated by spin-orbit (SO) fields originating from either Rashba or Dresselhaus interactions with independent isotropic characteristics. Together, though, they produce anisotropic SO
fields with consequences on quantum transport through spin interference. Here we study the transport properties of modelled mesoscopic rings subject to Rashba and Dresselhaus [001] SO couplings in the presence of an additional in-plane Zeeman field acting as a probe. By means of 1D and 2D quantum transport simulations we show that this setting presents anisotropies in the quantum resistance as a function of the Zeeman field direction. Moreover, the anisotropic resistance can be tuned by the Rashba strength up to the point to invert its response to the Zeeman field. We also find that a topological transition in the field texture that is associated with a geometric phase switching is imprinted in the anisotropy pattern. We conclude that resistance anisotropy measurements can reveal signatures of SO textures and geometric phases in spin carriers.
We investigate the influence of gauge fields induced by strain on the supercurrent passing through the graphene-based Josephson junctions. We show in the presence of a constant pseudomagnetic field ${bf B}_S$ originated from an arc-shape elastic defo
rmation, the Josephson current is monotonically enhanced. This is in contrast with the oscillatory behavior of supercurrent (known as Fraunhofer pattern) caused by real magnetic fields passing through the junction. The absence of oscillatory supercurrent originates from the fact that strain-induced gauge fields have opposite directions at the two valleys due to the time-reversal symmetry. Subsequently there is no net Aharonov-Bohm effect due to ${bf B}_S$ in the current carried by the bound states composed of electrons and holes from different valleys. On the other hand, when both magnetic and pseudomagnetic fields are present, Fraunhofer-like oscillations as function of the real magnetic field flux are found. We find that the Fraunhofer pattern and in particular its period slightly change by varying the strain-induced gauge field as well as the geometric aspect ratio of the junction. Intriguingly, the combination of two kinds of gauge fields results in two special fingerprint in the local current density profile: (i) strong localization of the Josephson current density with more intense maximum amplitudes; (ii) appearance of the inflated vortex cores - finite regions with almost diminishing Josephson currents - which their sizes increases by increasing ${bf B}_S$. These findings reveal unexpected interference signatures of strain-induced gauge fields in graphene SNS junctions and provide unique tools for sensitive probing of the pseudomagnetic fields.