Imaging resonant dissipation from individual atomic defects in graphene

Abstract

Conversion of electric current into heat involves microscopic processes that operate on nanometer length-scales and release minute amounts of power. While central to our understanding of the electrical properties of materials, individual mediators of energy dissipation have so far eluded direct observation. Using scanning nano-thermometry with sub-micro K sensitivity we visualize and control phonon emission from individual atomic defects in graphene. The inferred electron-phonon 'cooling power spectrum' exhibits sharp peaks when the Fermi level comes into resonance with electronic quasi-bound states at such defects, a hitherto uncharted process. Rare in the bulk but abundant at graphene's edges, switchable atomic-scale phonon emitters define the dominant dissipation mechanism. Our work offers new insights for addressing key materials challenges in modern electronics and engineering dissipation at the nanoscale.

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• Colloquium: Quantum heat transport in condensed matter systems
• Hot carriers in graphene -- fundamentals and applications
• Hydrodynamic approach to two-dimensional electron systems
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• Proximity screening greatly enhances electronic quality of graphene
• 3D nano-bridge-based SQUID susceptometers for scanning magnetic imaging of quantum materials
• Thermal dissipation in the quantum Hall regime in graphene
• Hydrodynamic electron transport in graphene Hall-bar devices
• Scanning SQUID-on-tip microscope in a top-loading cryogen-free dilution refrigerator
• Dissipation and dephasing in quantum Hall interferometers
• Interplay of resonant states and Landau levels in functionalized graphene
• Asymmetric power dissipation in electronic transport through a quantum point contact
• Intermediate diffusive-ballistic electron conduction around mesoscopic defects in graphene
• Edge dependece of nonlocal transport in gapped bilayer graphene
• Thermal dissipation of the quantum spin Hall edge states in HgTe/CdTe quantum well