Imaging electrostatically confined Dirac fermions in graphene quantum dots
- Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Univ. of California, Santa Cruz, CA (United States)
- Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)
- National Inst. for Materials Science (NIMS), Tsukuba (Japan)
- Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Electrostatic confinement of charge carriers in graphene is governed by Klein tunnelling, a relativistic quantum process in which particle-hole transmutation leads to unusual anisotropic transmission at p-n junction boundaries. Reflection and transmission at these boundaries affect the quantum interference of electronic waves, enabling the formation of novel quasi-bound states. Here we report the use of scanning tunnelling microscopy to map the electronic structure of Dirac fermions confined in quantum dots defined by circular graphene p-n junctions. The quantum dots were fabricated using a technique involving local manipulation of defect charge within the insulating substrate beneath a graphene monolayer. Inside such graphene quantum dots we observe resonances due to quasi-bound states and directly visualize the quantum interference patterns arising from these states. Outside the quantum dots Dirac fermions exhibit Friedel oscillation-like behaviour. Bolstered by a theoretical model describing relativistic particles in a harmonic oscillator potential, our findings yield insights into the spatial behaviour of electrostatically confined Dirac fermions.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); National Science Foundation (NSF)
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC02-05CH11231; DMR-1231319
- OSTI ID:
- 1530257
- Journal Information:
- Nature Physics, Vol. 12, Issue 11; ISSN 1745-2473
- Publisher:
- Nature Publishing Group (NPG)Copyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Web of Science
Similar Records
Photon induced tunneling of electron through a graphene electrostatic barrier
Stationary phase method and delay times for relativistic and non-relativistic tunneling particles