Non-Abelian Gauge Potentials in Graphene Bilayers

P. San-Jose, J. González, and F. Guinea
Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 216802 – Published 23 May 2012

Abstract

We study the effect of spatial modulations in the interlayer hopping of graphene bilayers, such as those that arise upon shearing or twisting. We show that their single-particle physics, characterized by charge accumulation and recurrent formation of zero-energy bands as the pattern period L increases, is governed by a non-Abelian gauge potential arising in the low-energy electronic theory due to the coupling between layers. We show that such gauge-type couplings give rise to a potential that, for certain discrete values of L, spatially confines states at zero energy in particular regions of the moiré patterns. We also draw the connection between the recurrence of the flat zero-energy bands and the non-Abelian character of the potential.

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  • Received 17 October 2011

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.108.216802

© 2012 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

P. San-Jose1, J. González1, and F. Guinea2

  • 1Instituto de Estructura de la Materia (IEM-CSIC), Serrano 123, 28006 Madrid, Spain
  • 2Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Madrid (ICMM-CSIC), Cantoblanco, 28049 Madrid, Spain

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Issue

Vol. 108, Iss. 21 — 25 May 2012

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