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Here, we report on a magneto-optical study of two distinct systems hosting massless fermions--two-dimensional graphene and three-dimensional HgCdTe tuned to the zero band gap condition at the point of the semiconductor-to-semimetal topological transition. Both materials exhibit, in the quantum regime, a fairly rich magneto-optical response, which is composed from a series of intraand interband inter-Landau level resonances with for massless fermions typical √B dependence. The impact of the system's dimensionality and of the strength of the spin-orbit interaction on the optical response is also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self-similarity and fractals have fascinated researchers across various disciplines. In graphene placed on boron nitride and subjected to a magnetic field, self-similarity appears in the form of numerous replicas of the original Dirac spectrum, and their quantization gives rise to a fractal pattern of Landau levels, referred to as the Hofstadter butterfly. Here we employ capacitance spectroscopy to probe directly the density of states (DoS) and energy gaps in this spectrum. Without a magnetic field, replica spectra are seen as pronounced DoS minima surrounded by van Hove singularities. The Hofstadter butterfly shows up as recurring Landau fan diagrams in high fields. Electron-electron interactions add another twist to the self-similar behaviour. We observe suppression of quantum Hall ferromagnetism, a reverse Stoner transition at commensurable fluxes and additional ferromagnetism within replica spectra. The strength and variety of the interaction effects indicate a large playground to study many-body physics in fractal Dirac systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Superlattices have attracted great interest because their use may make it possible to modify the spectra of two-dimensional electron systems and, ultimately, create materials with tailored electronic properties. In previous studies (see, for example, refs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8), it proved difficult to realize superlattices with short periodicities and weak disorder, and most of their observed features could be explained in terms of cyclotron orbits commensurate with the superlattice. Evidence for the formation of superlattice minibands (forming a fractal spectrum known as Hofstadter's butterfly) has been limited to the observation of new low-field oscillations and an internal structure within Landau levels. Here we report transport properties of graphene placed on a boron nitride substrate and accurately aligned along its crystallographic directions. The substrate's moiré potential acts as a superlattice and leads to profound changes in the graphene's electronic spectrum. Second-generation Dirac points appear as pronounced peaks in resistivity, accompanied by reversal of the Hall effect. The latter indicates that the effective sign of the charge carriers changes within graphene's conduction and valence bands. Strong magnetic fields lead to Zak-type cloning of the third generation of Dirac points, which are observed as numerous neutrality points in fields where a unit fraction of the flux quantum pierces the superlattice unit cell. Graphene superlattices such as this one provide a way of studying the rich physics expected in incommensurable quantum systems and illustrate the possibility of controllably modifying the electronic spectra of two-dimensional atomic crystals by varying their crystallographic alignment within van der Waals heterostuctures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We show how the magneto-phonon resonance, particularly pronounced in sp2 carbon allotropes, can be used as a tool to probe the band structure of multilayer graphene specimens. Even when electronic excitations cannot be directly observed, their coupling to the E2g phonon leads to pronounced oscillations of the phonon feature observed through Raman scattering experiments with multiple periods and amplitudes determined by the electronic excitation spectrum. Such experiment and analysis has been performed up to 28 T on an exfoliated four-layer graphene specimen deposited on SiO2, and the observed oscillations correspond to the specific AB stacked four-layer graphene electronic excitation spectrum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on absolute magneto-transmission experiments on highly doped quasi-free-standing epitaxial graphene targeting the classical-to-quantum crossover of the cyclotron resonance. This study allows us to directly extract the carrier density and also other relevant quantities such as the quasiparticle velocity and the Drude weight, which is precisely measured from the strength of the cyclotron resonance. We find that the Drude weight is renormalized with respect to its non-interacting (or random phase approximation) value and that the renormalization is tied to the quasiparticle velocity enhancement. This finding is in agreement with recent theoretical predictions, which attribute the renormalization of the Drude weight in graphene to the interplay between broken Galilean invariance and electron-electron interactions [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cyclotron resonance has been measured in far-infrared transmission of GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs heterostructures with an etched trigonal lateral superlattice intended to mimic graphene with lattice constant of the order of 100 nm (about 1000 times larger than that of natural graphene). Nonlinear dependence of the resonance position on magnetic field was observed, as well as its splitting into several modes. Our explanation, based on a perturbative calculation, describes the observed phenomena as a weak effect of the lateral potential on the two-dimensional electron gas. Using this approach, we found a correlation between parameters of the lateral patterning and the created effective potential and obtained thus insights into how the electronic miniband structure has been tuned. The miniband dispersion was calculated using a simplified model and allowed us to formulate four basic criteria that have to be satisfied to reach graphene-like physics in such systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a far infrared investigation of the optical transitions in epitaxial graphene subjected to a perpendicular magnetic field. Cyclotron-resonance-like transitions between adjacent electron Landau levels are observed, as well as interband transitions. The results are discussed in terms of existing theoretical models of Dirac fermions in graphene, and the relevant optical selection rules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The results of spectroscopic (magneto-transmission and Raman scattering) studies1–8 of multilayers of carbon which are thermally decomposed from carbon-terminated surface of silicon carbide, and of thin layers of highly oriented pyrolytic and natural graphite were presented. Those carbon multilayers on silicon carbide which are not directly affected by the SiC/C interface and which in consequence are nearly charge neutral show the magneto-optical properties identical with the properties characteristic of a single graphite sheet, graphene. Inter Landau level transitions in this multilayer graphene have been studied in a wide spectral range from far-infrared to almost visible region. The dispersion relations of electronic states are found to reflect the form of the Dirac cone with almost perfect electron-hole symmetry and only weak deviations from linearity at high energies. Cyclotron resonance transition in multilayer graphene can be observed in magnetic fields down to 40 mT, and its width is practically independent on temperature up to 300 K. Such parameters as carrier mobility and minimal conductivity as well as the possibility to probe the immediate vicinity of the Dirac point were evaluated and discussed in detail. For comparison, the magneto-optical properties of thin layers of bulk graphite were also reported. The Dirac like electronic dispersion relations are also found in these systems, but only in the vicinity of the particular (H) point of the Brillouin zone. In general, the measured spectra are, however, more complex and reflect the three-dimensional character of graphene layers with Bernal stacking. Note from Publisher: This article contains the abstract only. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A correction to the article "Hierarchy of Hofstadter states and replica quantum Hall ferromagnetism in graphene superlattices," that was published in the June 1, 2014 issue is presented.

Precise infrared magnetotransmission experiments have been performed in magnetic fields up to 32 T on a series of multilayer epitaxial graphene samples. We observe changes in the spectral features and broadening of the main cyclotron transition when the incoming photon energy is in resonance with the lowest Landau level separation and the energy of a K point optical phonon. We have developed a theory that explains and quantitatively reproduces the frequency and magnetic field dependence of the phenomenon as the absorption of a photon together with the simultaneous creation of an intervalley, intra-Landau-level exciten, and a K phonon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chirality is a fundamental property of electrons with the relativistic spectrum found in graphene and topological insulators. It plays a crucial role in relativistic phenomena, such as Klein tunneling, but it is difficult to visualize directly. Here, we report the direct observation and manipulation of chirality and pseudospin polarization in the tunneling of electrons between two almost perfectly aligned graphene crystals. We use a strong in-plane magnetic field as a tool to resolve the contributions of the chiral electronic states that have a phase difference between the two components of their vector wave function. Our experiments not only shed light on chirality, but also demonstrate a technique for preparing graphene’s Dirac electrons in a particular quantum chiral state in a selected valley. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present magneto-Raman scattering studies of electronic inter-Landau level excitations in quasineutral graphene samples with different strengths of Coulomb interaction. The band velocity associated with these excitations is found to depend on the dielectric environment, on the index of Landau level involved, and to vary as a function of the magnetic field. This contradicts the single-particle picture of noninteracting massless Dirac electrons but is accounted for by theory when the effect of electron-electron interaction is taken into account. Raman active, zero-momentum inter-Landau level excitations in graphene are sensitive to electron-electron interactions due to the nonapplicability of the Kohn theorem in this system, with a clearly nonparabolic dispersion relation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The polarization-resolved Raman-scattering response due to E2g phonons in monolayer graphene has been investigated in magnetic fields up to 29 T. The hybridization of the E2g phonon is only observed with the fundamental inter-Landau-level excitation (involving the n=0 Landau level) and in just one of the two configurations of the circularly cross-polarized excitation and scattered light. This polarization anisotropy of the magnetophonon resonance is shown to be inherent to relatively strongly doped graphene samples with carrier concentrations typical for graphene deposited on Si/SiO2 substrates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The micro-Raman-scattering response of a graphenelike location on the surface of bulk natural graphite is investigated both at T = 4.2Â' and at room temperature in magnetic fields up to 29 T. Two different polarization configurations, cocircular and crossed circular, are employed in order to determine the Raman-scattering selection rules. Several distinct series of electronic excitations are observed, and we discuss their characteristic shapes and amplitudes. In particular, we report a clear splitting of the signals associated with the inter-Landau-level excitations --n -> -\-n. Furthermore, we observe the pronounced interaction of the zone-center E2g phonon with three different sets of electronic excitations. Possible origins for these graphenelike inclusions on the surface of bulk graphite are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the carrier dynamics in epitaxially grown graphene in the range of photon energies from 10 to 250 meV. The experiments complemented by microscopic modeling reveal that the carrier relaxation is significantly slowed down as the photon energy is tuned to values below the optical-phonon frequency; however, owing to the presence of hot carders, optical-phonon emission is still the predominant relaxation process. For photon energies about twice the value of the Fermi energy, a transition from pump-induced transmission to pump-induced absorption occurs due to the interplay of interband and intraband processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The energy dependence of the electronic scattering time is probed by Landau level spectroscopy in quasineutral multilayer epitaxial graphene. From the broadening of overlapping Landau levels we find that the scattering rate 1/τ increases linearly with energy &epsilon. This implies a surprising property of the Landau level spectrum in graphene--the number of resolved Landau levels remains constant with the applied magnetic field. Insights are given about possible scattering mechanisms and carrier mobilities in the graphene system investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Additional component in multilayer epitaxial graphene grown on the C-terminated surface of SiC, which exhibits the characteristic electronic properties of a AB-stacked graphene bilayer, is identified in magneto-optical response of this material. We show that these inclusions represent a well-defined platform for accurate magnetospectroscopy of unperturbed graphene bilayers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The magneto-transmission of a thin layer of bulk graphite is compared with spectra taken on multi-layer epitaxial graphene prepared by thermal decomposition of a SiC crystal. We focus on the spectral features evolving as , which are evidence for the presence of Dirac fermions in both materials. Whereas the results on multi-layer epitaxial graphene can be interpreted within the model of 2D Dirac fermions, the data obtained on bulk graphite can only be explained taking into account the 3D nature of graphite, e.g. by using the standard Slonczewski–Weiss–McClure model. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]