Common-Path Interference and Zener Tunneling in Bilayer Graphene p-n Junctions

Abstract

Interference and tunneling are two signature quantum effects that are often perceived as the yin and yang of quantum mechanics: particle simultaneously propagating along several distinct classical paths versus particle penetrating through a classically inaccessible region via a single least-action path. Here we demonstrate that the Dirac quasiparticles in graphene provide a dramatic departure from this paradigm. We show that Zener tunneling in gapped bilayer graphene (BLG), which governs transport through p-n heterojunctions, exhibits common-path interference that takes place under the tunnel barrier. Due to a symmetry peculiar to the BLG bandstructure, interfering tunneling paths form `conjugate pairs', giving rise to high-contrast oscillations in transmission as a function of the gate-tunable bandgap and other control parameters of the junction. The common-path interference is solely due to forward-propagating waves; in contrast to Fabry-Perot-type interference in resonant tunneling structures it does not rely on multiple backscattering. The oscillations manifest themselves in the junction I-V characteristic as N-shaped branches with negative differential conductivity, enabling new high-speed active-circuit devices with architectures which are not available in electronic semiconductor devices.

7 pgs, 5 fgs

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• Introduction to Graphene Electronics -- A New Era of Digital Transistors and Devices
• Limitations to Carrier Mobility and Phase-Coherent Transport in Bilayer Graphene
• Klein Tunneling and Berry Phase $\pi$ in Bilayer Graphene with a Band Gap
• Visualization and Manipulation of Bilayer Graphene Quantum Dots with Broken Rotational Symmetry and Nontrivial Topology
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• Resonant plasmonic terahertz detection in graphene split-gate field-effect transistors with lateral p-n junctions
• Electron optics with dirac fermions: electron transport in monolayer and bilayer graphene through magnetic barrier and their superlattices
• Magnetic-field-controlled negative differential conductance in graphene npn junction resonators
• Evidence of electronic cloaking from chiral electron transport in bilayer graphene nanostructures
• Terahertz photoconductivity in bilayer graphene transistors: evidence for tunneling at gate-induced junctions
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• Graphene with time-dependent spin-orbit coupling: Truncated Magnus expansion approach
• One-dimensional plasmons confined in bilayer graphene p-n junctions
• Dynamic Symmetries and Quantum Nonadiabatic Transitions
• Zener tunneling isospin Hall effect in HgTe quantum wells and graphene multilayers
• Electric Current Focusing Efficiency in Graphene Electric Lens
• Common path interference in Zener tunneling is a universal phenomenon
• Nodal structure of bound-state wave functions for systems with quartic dispersion
• Mode-Resolved Multiband Ballistic Transport and Conductance Thresholds in Bilayer Graphene Junctions
• Evanescent-mode-assisted Klein tunneling in dual-gated bilayer graphene