English

Electronic properties of curved few-layers graphene: a geometrical approach

Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics 2018-04-17 v2 Materials Science General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology High Energy Physics - Theory

Abstract

We show the presence of non-relativistic L\'evy-Leblond fermions in flat three- and four-layers graphene with AB stacking, extending the results obtained in [Curvatronics2017] for bilayer graphene. When the layer is curved we obtain a set of equations for Galilean fermions that are a variation of those of L\'evy-Leblond with a well defined combination of pseudospin, and that admit L\'evy-Leblond spinors as solutions in an approriate limit. The local energy of such Galilean fermions is sensitive to the intrinsic curvature of the surface. We discuss the relationship between two-dimensional pseudospin, labelling layer degrees of freedom, and the different energy bands. For L\'evy-Leblond fermions an interpretation is given in terms of massless fermions in an effective 4D spacetime, and in this case the pseudospin is related to four dimensional chirality. A non-zero energy band gap between conduction and valence electronic bands is obtained for surfaces with positive curvature.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1801.04194,
  title  = {Electronic properties of curved few-layers graphene: a geometrical approach},
  author = {M. Cariglia and R. Giambò and A. Perali},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1801.04194},
  year   = {2018}
}

Comments

16 pages, 4 figures. Matches the published version. Refined theory that describes the unique combination of isospin states ocurring in curved bilayer graphene sheets