English

Tunable Band Inversion in Trilayer Graphene

Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics 2025-06-11 v2

Abstract

Displacement field control of elecronic bands in low-dimensional systems is a promising route toward engineering emergent quantum phases. Here, we report displacement-field-induced band inversion and modulation of the Berry phase of low-energy quasi particles in high-mobility Bernal-stacked trilayer graphene (TLG). Using quantum oscillations, we track the evolution of the Fermi surface and topological properties of Dirac-like gully bands that emerge under a finite interlayer potential. We observe a striking sequence of transitions: at low displacement field DD, the gullies are characterized by a Berry phase of 2π2\pi and large effective mass, indicating massive fermions. As DD increases, the Berry phase abruptly shifts to π\pi and the effective mass reaches a minimum, signaling the onset of massless Dirac behavior. At higher DD, the Berry phase returns to 2π2\pi, and the effective mass increases again, consistent with a band inversion. These findings demonstrate a rare, reversible topological phase transition - massive to massless to massive - driven entirely by an external displacement field. Despite robust theoretical predictions [\textit{Phys. Rev. B} \textbf{87}, 085424 (2013), \textit{Phys. Rev. B} \textbf{87}, 115422 (2013), and \textit{Phys. Rev. B} \textbf{101}, 245411 (2020)], this evolution of the band topology had escaped experimental detection. Our results establish TLG as a tunable platform for nanoscale control of band topology. They establish a means to tune between massive and Dirac-like dispersions dynamically providing a foundation for exploring field-switchable topological phenomena in layered 2D systems.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2502.15232,
  title  = {Tunable Band Inversion in Trilayer Graphene},
  author = {Harsimran Kaur Mann and Simrandeep Kaur and Safil Mullick and Priya Tiwari and Kenji Watanabe and Takashi Taniguchi and Aveek Bid},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2502.15232},
  year   = {2025}
}

Comments

16 pages, comments and suggestions most welcome

R2 v1 2026-06-28T21:52:24.789Z