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Hexagonal boron nitride is an ideal dielectric to form two-dimensional heterostructures due to the fact that it can be exfoliated to be just few atoms thick and its a very low density of defects. By placing graphene nanoribbons on high quality hexagonal boron nitride it is possible to create ideal quasi one dimensional (1D) systems with very high mobility. The availability of high quality one-dimensional electronic systems is of great interest also given that when in proximity to a superconductor they can be effectively engineered to realize Majorana bound states. In this work we study how a boron nitride substrate affects the electronic properties of graphene nanoribbons. We consider both armchair and zigzag nanoribbons. Our results show that for some stacking configurations the boron nitride can significantly affect the electronic structure of the ribbons. In particular, for zigzag nanoribbons, due to the lock between spin and sublattice degree of freedom at the edges, the hexagonal boron nitride can induce a very strong spin-splitting of the spin polarized, edge sates. We find that such spin-splitting can be as high as 40~meV.

We investigate the extent to which the class of Dirac materials in two-dimensions provides general statements about the behavior of both fermionic and bosonic Dirac quasiparticles in the interacting regime. For both quasiparticle types, we find common features for the interaction induced renormalization of the conical Dirac spectrum. We perform the perturbative renormalization analysis and compute the self-energy for both quasiparticle types with different interactions and collate previous results from the literature whenever necessary. Guided by the systematic presentation of our results in Table~\ref{Summary}, we conclude that long-range interactions generically lead to an increase of the slope of the single-particle Dirac cone, whereas short-range interactions lead to a decrease. The quasiparticle statistics does not qualitatively impact the self-energy correction for long-range repulsion but does affect the behavior of short-range coupled systems, giving rise to different thermal power-law contributions. The possibility of a universal description of the Dirac materials based on these features is also mentioned., Comment: 19 pages and 12 Figures; Contains 6 Appendices

We study a tight-binding model on the honeycomb lattice of chiral $d$-wave superconductivity that breaks time-reversal symmetry. Due to its nontrivial sublattice structure, we show that it is possible to construct a gauge-invariant time-reversal-odd bilinear of the pairing potential. The existence of this bilinear reflects the sublattice polarization of the pairing state. We show that it generates persistent loop current correlations around each lattice site and opens a topological mass gap at the Dirac points, resembling Haldane's model of the anomalous quantum Hall effect. In addition to the usual chiral $d$-wave edge states, there also exist electron-like edge resonances due to the topological mass gap. We show that the presence of loop-current correlations directly leads to a nonzero intrinsic ac Hall conductivity, which produces the polar Kerr effect without an external magnetic field. Similar results also hold for the nearest-neighbor chiral $p$-wave pairing. We briefly discuss the relevance of our results to superconductivity in twisted bilayer graphene., Comment: v.1: 12 pages, 8 figures. v2: 16 pages, 8 figures, substantial revisions, new sections and references, new Fig. 6. v3: 16 pages, 8 figures

We theoretically predict that a true bilayer exciton condensate,characterised by off-diagonal long range order and global phase coherence, can be created in one-dimensional solid state electron systems. The mechanism by which this happens is to introduce a single particle hybridization of electron and hole populations, which locks the phase of the relevant mode and hence invalidates the Mermin--Wagner theorem. Electron--hole interactions then amplify this tendency towards off-diagonal long range order, enhancing the condensate properties by more than an order of magnitude over the noninteracting limit. We show that the temperatures below which a substantial condensate fraction would form could reach hundreds of Kelvin, a benefit of the weak screening in one-dimensional systems., Comment: 4 pages + supplementary material section, 3 figures

Previously, graphene nanoribbons set in lateral heterostructures with hexagonal boron nitride were predicted to support topologically protected states at low energy. We investigate how robust the transport properties of these states are against lattice disorder. We find that forms of disorder that do not couple the two valleys of the zigzag graphene nanoribbon do not impact the transport properties at low bias, indicating that these lateral heterostructures are very promising candidates for chip-scale conducting interconnects. Forms of disorder that do couple the two valleys, such as vacancies in the graphene ribbon, or substantial inclusions of armchair edges at the graphene-hexagonal boron nitride interface will negatively affect the transport. However, these forms of disorder are not commonly seen in current experiments., Comment: Main text is eight pages with four figures, RevTeX. Supplementary material included

Topological states of matter are characterized by global topological invariants which change their value across a topological quantum phase transition. It is commonly assumed that the transition between topologically distinct noninteracting gapped phases of fermions is necessarily accompanied by the closing of the band gap as long as the symmetries of the system are maintained. We show that such a quantum phase transition is possible without closing the gap in the case of a three-dimensional topological band insulator. We demonstrate this by calculating the free energy of the minimal model for a topological insulator, the Bernevig-Hughes-Zhang model, and show that as the band curvature continuously varies, a jump between the band gap minima corresponding to the topologically trivial and nontrivial insulators occurs. Therefore, this first order phase transition is a generic feature of three-dimensional topological band insulators. For a certain parameter range we predict a re-entrant topological phase transition. We discuss our findings in connection with the recent experimental observation of a discontinuous topological phase transition in a family of topological crystalline insulators., Comment: Five pages, three figures; ReVTeX. Supplementary material

We model optical absorption of monolayer and bilayer graphene on hexagonal boron nitride for the case of closely-aligned crystal lattices. We show that perturbations with different spatial symmetry can lead to similar absorption spectra. We suggest that a study of the absorption spectra as a function of the doping for almost completely full first miniband is necessary to extract meaningful information about the moire characteristics from optical absorption measurements and to distinguish between various theoretical proposals for the physically realistic interaction. Also, for bilayer graphene, the ability to compare spectra for the opposite signs of electric-field-induced interlayer asymmetry might provide additional information about the moire parameters., Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, minor changes, version accepted to PRB

We calculate the energy spectrum of a Dirac double layer, where each layer has the Dirac electronic dispersion, in the presence of a tilted magnetic field and small interlayer tunneling. We show that the energy splitting between the Landau levels has an oscillatory dependence on the in-plane magnetic field and vanishes at a series of special tilt angles of the magnetic field. Using a semiclassical analysis, we show that these special tilt angles are determined by the Berry phase of the Dirac Hamiltonian. The interlayer tunneling conductance also exhibits an oscillatory dependence on the magnetic field tilt angle, known as the angular magnetoresistance oscillations (AMRO). Our results are applicable to graphene double layers and thin films of topological insulators., Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures; Expanded section "SEMICLASSICAL DESCRIPTION"; corresponds to the published version

A longstanding mystery in understanding cuprate superconductors is the inconsistency between the experimental data measured by scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS) and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES). In particular, the gap between prominent side peaks observed in STS is much bigger than the superconducting gap observed by ARPES measurements. Here, we reconcile the two experimental techniques by generalising a theory which was previously applied to zero-dimensional mesoscopic Kondo systems to strongly correlated two-dimensional (2D) exotic superconductors. We show that the side peaks observed in tunneling conductance measurements in all these materials have a universal origin: They are formed by coherence-mediated tunneling under bias and do not directly reflect the underlying density of states (DOS) of the sample. We obtain theoretical predictions of the tunneling conductance and the density of states of the sample simultaneously and show that for cuprate and pnictide superconductors, the extracted sample DOS is consistent with the superconducting gap measured by ARPES., Comment: Eleven pages, four figures, one table

Despite the now vast body of two-dimensional materials under study, bilayer graphene remains unique in two ways: it hosts a simultaneously tunable band gap and electron density; and stems from simple fabrication methods. These two advantages underscore why bilayer graphene is critical as a material for optoelectronic applications. In the work that follows, we calculate the one- and two-photon absorption coefficients for degenerate interband absorption in a graphene bilayer hosting an asymmetry gap and adjustable chemical potential--all at finite temperature. Our analysis is comprehensive, characterizing one- and two-photon absorptive behavior over wide ranges of photon energy, gap, chemical potential, and thermal broadening. The two-photon absorption coefficient for bilayer graphene displays a rich structure as a function of photon energy and band gap due to the existence of multiple absorption pathways and the nontrivial dispersion of the low energy bands. This systematic work will prove integral to the design of bilayer-graphene-based nonlinear optical devices., Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures

We show theoretically that excitons can form from spatially separated one-dimensional ground state populations of electrons and holes, and that the resulting excitons can form a quasicondensate. We describe a mean-field Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer theory in the low carrier density regime and then focus on the core-shell nanowire giving estimates of the size of the excitonic gap for InAs/GaSb wires and as a function of all the experimentally relevant parameters. We find that optimal conditions for pairing include small overlap of the electron and hole bands, large effective mass of the carriers, and low dielectric constant of the surrounding media. Therefore, one-dimensional systems provide an attractive platform for the experimental detection of excitonic quasicondensation in zero magnetic field., Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, RevTeX

We analyze the effect of a strong Zeeman field on the spectrum of collective excitations of monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides. The combination of the Dresselhaus type spin orbit coupling and an external Zeeman field result in the lifting of the valley degeneracy in the valence band of these crystals. We show that this lifting of the valley degeneracy manifests in the appearance of an additional plasmon mode with linear in wavenumber dispersion along with the standard square root in wavenumber mode. Despite this novel mode being subject to the Landau damping, it corresponds to a well defined quasiparticle peak in the spectral function of the electron gas., Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, RevTeX

We highlight the fact that two-dimensional materials with Dirac-like low energy band structures and spin-orbit coupling will produce linearly dispersing topologically protected Jackiw-Rebbi modes at interfaces where the Dirac mass changes sign. These modes may support persistent spin or valley currents parallel to the interface, and the exact arrangement of such topologically protected currents depends crucially on the details of the spin-orbit coupling in the material. As examples, we discuss buckled two-dimensional hexagonal lattices such as silicene or germanene, and transition metal dichalcogenides such as MoS$_2$., Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures

We propose a theory of optical absorption in monolayer graphene-hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) heterostructures. In highly oriented heterostructures, the hBN underlay produces a long-range moir\'e superlattice potential for the graphene electrons which modifies the selection rules for absorption of incoming photons in the infrared to visible frequency range. The details of the absorption spectrum modification depend on the relative strength of the various symmetry-allowed couplings between the graphene electrons and the hBN, and the resulting nature of the reconstructed band structure., Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures

We discuss the conditions under which the predicted (but not yet observed) zero-field interlayer excitonic condensation in double layer graphene has a critical temperature high enough to allow detection. Crucially, disorder arising from charged impurities and corrugation in the lattice structure --- invariably present in all real samples --- affects the formation of the condensate via the induced charge inhomogeneity. In the former case, we use a numerical Thomas-Fermi-Dirac theory to describe the local fluctuations in the electronic density in double layer graphene devices and estimate the effect these realistic fluctuations have on the formation of the condensate. To make this estimate, we calculate the critical temperature for the interlayer excitonic superfluid transition within the mean-field BCS theory for both optimistic (unscreened) and conservative (statically screened) approximations for the screening of the interlayer Coulomb interaction. We also estimate the effect of allowing dynamic contributions to the interlayer screening. We then conduct similar calculations for double quadratic bilayer graphene, showing that the quadratic nature of the low-energy bands produces pairing with critical temperature of the same order of magnitude as the linear bands of double monolayer graphene., Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, RevTeX, final published version

We develop a theory for the compressibility of the surface states of 3D topological insulators and propose that surface probes of the compressibility via scanning single electron transistor microscopy will be a straightforward way to access the topological states without interference from the bulk states. We describe the single-particle nature of the surface states taking into account an accurate Hamiltonian for the bands and then include the contribution from electron--electron interactions and discuss the implications of the ultra-violet cutoff, including the universality of the exchange contribution when expressed in dimensionless units. We also compare the theory with experimentally obtained d{\mu}/dn as extracted from angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy measurements. Finally, we point out that interaction-driven renormalization of the Fermi velocity may be discernible via this technique., Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, RevTeX

We describe the robustness of an excitonic condensate in double layer graphene against layer density fluctuations and the associated charge inhomogeneity, and discuss the implications for observing the condensate under current experimental conditions. We solve the mean-field equations for a finite imbalance in the Fermi energies in each layer and utilize the results in two phenomenological models for inhomogeneity. We find that the stability of the excitonic condensate against density fluctuations is strongly dependent on the size of the excitonic gap, and that transport experiments (such as Coulomb drag) which rely on percolation of the exciton current through the inhomogeneous sample are promising methods for observing the condensate., Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, RevTeX

We propose a spectroscopic method of identifying broken symmetry states of bilayer graphene. We demonstrate theoretically that, in contrast to gapped states, a strained bilayer crystal or nematic phase of the electronic liquid are distinguishable by the dependence of the lineshape of absorption on the polarization of the light. This property is characteristic for both the infrared and far-infrared spectral ranges, which correspond to the absorption by transitions between low-energy bands and split bands, and transitions between the low-energy valence and conduction bands, respectively., Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures. Updated with proof corrections and journal reference

We demonstrate that for gapped bilayer graphene, the nonlinear nature of the screening of an external disorder potential and the resulting inhomogeneity of the electron liquid are crucial for describing the electronic compressibility. In particular, traditional diagrammatic methods of many-body theory do not include this inhomogeneity and therefore fail to reproduce experimental data accurately, particularly at low carrier densities. In contrast, a direct calculation of the charge landscape via a numerical Thomas-Fermi energy functional method along with the appropriate bulk averaging procedure captures all the essential physics, including the interplay between the band gap and the inhomogeneity., Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures. Please note, the visual quality of Fig. 3 has been reduced to accommodate arXiv's total size requirement for submissions. Full quality figures are available in the published version

We present a review of the electronic compressibility of monolayer and bilayer graphene. We focus on describing theoretical calculations of the effects of electron--electron interactions and various types of disorder, and also give a summary of current experiments and describe which aspects of theory they support. We also include a full analysis of all commonly-used contributions to the tight-binding Hamiltonian of bilayer graphene and their effects on the compressibility., Comment: 15 preprint-style pages, 5 figures

We study the effects of disorder on bilayer graphene using four different microscopic models and directly compare their results. We compute the self-energy, density of states, and optical conductivity in the presence of short-ranged scatterers and screened Coulomb impurities, using both the Born approximation and self-consistent Born approximation for the self-energy. We also include a finite interlayer potential asymmetry which generates a gap between the valence and conduction bands. We find that the qualitative behavior of the two scattering potentials are similar, but that the choice of approximation for the self-energy leads to important differences near the band edge in the gapped case. Finally, we describe how these differences manifest in the measurement of the band gap in optical and transport experimental techniques., Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures

We present an interpretation of recent experimental measurements of dmu/dn in suspended bilayer graphene samples. We demonstrate that the data may be quantitatively described by assuming a spatially varying band gap induced by local electric fields. We demonstrate that the gap fluctuations vary amongst different samples and that the gap fluctuations are correlated with the associated charge density fluctuations, indicating that the mechanism causing this effect is likely to be an extrinsic effect. We also provide predictions for the optical conductivity and mobility of suspended bilayer graphene samples with small band gaps., Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures

We discuss the effect of disorder on the band gap measured in bilayer graphene in optical and transport experiments. By calculating the optical conductivity and density of states using a microscopic model in the presence of disorder, we demonstrate that the gap associated with transport experiments is smaller than that associated with optical experiments. Intrinsic bilayer graphene has an optical conductivity in which the energy of the peaks associated with the interband transition are very robust against disorder and thus provide an estimate of the band gap. In contrast, extraction of the band gap from the optical conductivity of extrinsic bilayer graphene is almost impossible for significant levels of disorder due to the ambiguity of the transition peaks. The density of states contains an upper bound on the gap measured in transport experiments, and disorder has the effect of reducing this gap which explains why these experiments have so far been unable to replicate the large band gaps seen in optical measurements., Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, RevTeX. Published version

We describe the gated bilayer graphene system when it is subjected to intense terahertz frequency electromagnetic radiation. We examine the electron band structure and density of states via exact diagonalization methods within Floquet theory. We find that dynamical states are induced which lead to modification of the band structure. We first examine the situation where there is no external magnetic field. In the unbiased case, dynamical gaps appear in the spectrum which manifest as dips in the density of states. For finite interlayer bias (where a static gap is present in the band structure of unirradiated bilayer graphene), dynamical states may be induced in the static gap. These states can show a high degree of valley polarization. When the system is placed in a strong magnetic field, the radiation induces coupling between the Landau levels which allows dynamical levels to exist. For strong fields, this means the Landau levels are smeared to form a near-continuum of states., Comment: 14 pages, accepted for publication in Nanotechnology

We develop a theory for the compressibility and quantum capacitance of disordered monolayer and bilayer graphene including the full hyperbolic band structure and band gap in the latter case. We include the effects of disorder in our theory, which are of particular importance at the carrier densities near the Dirac point. We account for this disorder statistically using two different averaging procedures: first via averaging over the density of carriers directly, and then via averaging in the density of states to produce an effective density of carriers. We also compare the results of these two models with experimental data, and to do this we introduce a model for inter-layer screening which predicts the size of the band gap between the low-energy conduction and valence bands for arbitary gate potentials applied to both layers of bilayer graphene. We find that both models for disorder give qualitatively correct results for gapless systems, but when there is a band gap at charge neutrality, the density of states averaging is incorrect and disagrees with the experimental data., Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, RevTeX

The nature of electron correlations in bilayer graphene has been investigated. An analytic expression for the radial distribution function is derived for an ideal electron gas and the corresponding static structure factor is evaluated. We also estimate the interaction energy of this system. In particular, the functional form of the pair-correlation function was found to be almost insensitive to the electron density in the experimentally accessible range. The inter-layer bias potential also has a negligible effect on the pair-correlation function. Our results offer valuable insights into the general behavior of the correlated systems and serve as an essential starting-point for investigation of the fully-interacting system., Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures

In this review, we provide an in-depth description of the physics of monolayer and bilayer graphene from a theorist's perspective. We discuss the physical properties of graphene in an external magnetic field, reflecting the chiral nature of the quasiparticles near the Dirac point with a Landau level at zero energy. We address the unique integer quantum Hall effects, the role of electron correlations, and the recent observation of the fractional quantum Hall effect in the monolayer graphene. The quantum Hall effect in bilayer graphene is fundamentally different from that of a monolayer, reflecting the unique band structure of this system. The theory of transport in the absence of an external magnetic field is discussed in detail, along with the role of disorder studied in various theoretical models. We highlight the differences and similarities between monolayer and bilayer graphene, and focus on thermodynamic properties such as the compressibility, the plasmon spectra, the weak localization correction, quantum Hall effect, and optical properties. Confinement of electrons in graphene is nontrivial due to Klein tunneling. We review various theoretical and experimental studies of quantum confined structures made from graphene. The band structure of graphene nanoribbons and the role of the sublattice symmetry, edge geometry and the size of the nanoribbon on the electronic and magnetic properties are very active areas of research, and a detailed review of these topics is presented. Also, the effects of substrate interactions, adsorbed atoms, lattice defects and doping on the band structure of finite-sized graphene systems are discussed. We also include a brief description of graphane -- gapped material obtained from graphene by attaching hydrogen atoms to each carbon atom in the lattice., Comment: 189 pages. submitted in Advances in Physics

A recent surprising finding that electronic compressibility measured experimentally in monolayer graphene can be described solely in terms of the kinetic energy [J. Martin, et al., Nat. Phys. 4, 144 (2008)] is explained theoretically as a direct consequence of the linear energy dispersion and the chirality of massless Dirac electrons. For bilayer graphene we show that contributions to the compressibility from the electron correlations are restored. We attribute the difference to the respective momentum dependence of the low energy band structures of the two materials., Comment: Four pages. Published version. Journal reference is Physical Review B 80, 081408(R) (2009)

We propose a device for the generation of valley polarized electronic current in bilayer graphene. By analyzing the response of this material to intense terahertz frequency light in the presence of a transverse electric field, we demonstrate that dynamical states are induced in the gapped energy region, and if the system parameters are properly tuned, these states exist only in one valley. The valley polarized states can then be used to filter an arbitrary electron current, so generating a valley polarized current., Comment: 4 pages, 3 colour figures. Published version. Journal reference is Applied Physics Letters 95, 062107 (2009)

We report on our studies of interacting electrons in bilayer graphene in a magnetic field. We demonstrate that the long range Coulomb interactions between electrons in this material are highly important and account for the band asymmetry in recent optical magneto-absorption experiments. We show that in the unbiased bilayer (where both layers are at the same electrostatic potential), the interactions can cause mixing of Landau levels in moderate magnetic fields. For the biased bilayer (when the two layers are at different potentials), we demonstrate that the interactions are responsible for a change in the total spin of the ground state for half-filled Landau levels in the valence band., Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, RevTeX

We report on our studies of interacting electrons in bilayer graphene in a magnetic field. We demonstrate that the long range Coulomb interactions between electrons in this material are highly important. We show that in the unbiased bilayer (where both layers are at the same electrostatic potential), the interactions can cause mixing of Landau levels in moderate magnetic fields. For the biased bilayer (when the two layers are at different potentials), we demonstrate that the interactions are responsible for a change in the total spin of the ground state for half-filled Landau levels in the valence band., Comment: 7 pages, with 4 figures and 2 tables

We have studied the interplay of valley polarization and the Coulomb interaction on the energy spectrum, persistent current, and optical absorption of a graphene quantum ring. We show that the interaction has a dramatic effect on the nature of the ground state as a function of the magnetic flux, and that the absence of the exchange interaction in opposite valleys means that the singlet-triplet degeneracy is not lifted for certain states. The additional level crossings (fractional flux periodicity) due to the interaction directly leads to extra steps in the persistent current and intricate structures in the absorption spectrum that should be experimentally observable. By varying the width of the ring, the nature of the ground state at zero field can be varied as well and this is manifest in the measurable properties we discuss., Comment: Four pages, three figures

We introduce a spin-orbit assisted electron-phonon (e-ph) coupling mechanism for carriers in semiconductor quantum wells and predict qualitatively the form and shape of anticrossings between the cyclotron resonance (CR) and optical (LO and TO) phonons. Since this e-ph interaction involves the electron spin it makes the predicted TO-CR anticrossing dependent on the filling factor and therefore on the polarization of the 2D electron gas in the quantum well., Comment: Four pages, RevTex, three figures, updated references

We model the optical visibility of monolayer and bilayer graphene deposited on a silicon/silicon oxide substrate or thermally annealed on the surface of silicon carbide. We consider reflection and transmission setups, and find that visibility is strongest in reflection reaching the optimum conditions when the bare substrate transmits light resonantly. In the optical range of frequencies a bilayer is approximately twice as visible as a monolayer thereby making the two types of graphene distinguishable from each other., Comment: pdflatex, 3 pages, 3 figures

We analyze the spectroscopic features of bilayer graphene determined by the formation of pairs of low-energy and split bands in this material. We show that the inter-Landau-level absorption spectrum in bilayer graphene at high magnetic field is much denser in the far-infrared range than that in monolayer material, and that the polarization dependence of its lowest energy peak can be used to test the form of the bilayer ground state in the quantum Hall-effect regime., Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures