High magnetic field theory for the local density of states in graphene with smooth arbitrary potential landscapes

Abstract

We study theoretically the energy and spatially resolved local density of states (LDoS) in graphene at high perpendicular magnetic field. For this purpose, we extend from the Schrödinger to the Dirac case a semicoherent-state Green's-function formalism, devised to obtain in a quantitative way the lifting of the Landau-level degeneracy in the presence of smooth confinement and smooth disordered potentials. Our general technique, which rigorously describes quantum-mechanical motion in a magnetic field beyond the semi-classical guiding center picture of vanishing magnetic length (both for the ordinary two-dimensional electron gas and graphene), is connected to the deformation (Weyl) quantization theory in phase space developed in mathematical physics. For generic quadratic potentials of either scalar (i.e., electrostatic) or mass (i.e., associated with coupling to the substrate) types, we exactly solve the regime of large magnetic field (yet at finite magnetic length - formally, this amounts to considering an infinite Fermi velocity) where Landau-level mixing becomes negligible. Hence, we obtain a closed-form expression for the graphene Green's function in this regime, providing analytically the discrete energy spectra for both cases of scalar and mass parabolic confinement. Furthermore, the coherent-state representation is shown to display a hierarchy of local energy scales ordered by powers of the magnetic length and successive spatial derivatives of the local potential, which allows one to devise controlled approximation schemes at finite temperature for arbitrary and possibly disordered potential landscapes. As an application, we derive general analytical non-perturbative expressions for the LDoS, which may serve as a good starting point for interpreting experimental studies.

27 pages, 2 figures ; v2: typos corrected, corresponds to published version

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• Photoinduced electronic and spin properties of two-dimensional electron gases with Rashba spin-orbit coupling under perpendicular magnetic fields
• Probing the nodal structure of Landau level wave functions in real space
• Strong and Weak Three-Dimensional Topological Insulators Probed by Surface Science Methods
• Transmission coefficient through a saddle-point electrostatic potential for graphene in the quantum Hall regime
• Nonlocal correlations of the local density of states in disordered quantum Hall systems