Crossed graphene nanoribbons as beam splitters and mirrors for electron quantum optics

Abstract

We analyze theoretically 4-terminal electronic devices composed of two crossed graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) and show that they can function as beam splitters or mirrors. These features are identified for electrons in the low-energy region where a single valence or conduction band is present. Our modeling is based on $p_z$ orbital tight-binding with Slater--Koster type matrix elements fitted to accurately reproduce the low-energy bands from density functional theory calculations. We analyze systematically all devices that can be constructed with either zigzag or armchair GNRs in AA and AB stackings. From Green's function theory the elastic electron transport properties are quantified as a function of the ribbon width. We find that devices composed of relatively narrow zigzag GNRs and AA-stacked armchair GNRs are the most interesting candidates to realize electron beam splitters with a close to 50-50 ratio in the two outgoing terminals. Structures with wider ribbons instead provide electron mirrors, where the electron wave is mostly transferred into the outgoing terminal of the other ribbon, or electron filters where the scattering depends sensitively on the wavelength of the propagating electron. We also test the robustness of these transport properties against variations in intersection angle, stacking pattern, lattice deformation (uniaxial strain), inter-GNR separation, and electrostatic potential differences between the layers. These generic features show that GNRs are interesting basic components to construct electronic quantum optical setups.

References in corpus (43)

• The electronic properties of graphene
• The SIESTA method for ab initio order-N materials simulation
• Efficient index handling of multidimensional periodic boundary conditions
• Magic-angle graphene superlattices: a new platform for unconventional superconductivity
• Density functional method for nonequilibrium electron transport
• Van der Waals Density Functional for General Geometries
• Energy Band Gap Engineering of Graphene Nanoribbons
• Energy Gaps in Graphene Nanoribbons
• Correlated Insulator Behaviour at Half-Filling in Magic Angle Graphene Superlattices
• Half-Metallic Graphene Nanoribbons
• Landau level degeneracy and quantum Hall effect in a graphite bilayer
• Graphene bilayer with a twist: electronic structure
• On-surface synthesis of graphene nanoribbons with zigzag edge topology
• Electronic States of Graphene Nanoribbons
• Observation of Van Hove singularities in twisted graphene layers
• An Electronic Mach-Zehnder Interferometer
• Localization of Dirac electrons by Moire patterns in graphene bilayers
• Structure, Stability, Edge States and Aromaticity of Graphene Ribbons
• Exceptional ballistic transport in epitaxial graphene nanoribbons
• Raman spectroscopy of epitaxial graphene on a SiC substrate
• Improvements on non-equilibrium and transport Green function techniques: the next-generation transiesta
• Superlubricity of Graphene Nanoribbons on Gold Surfaces
• Coherence and Indistinguishability of Single Electrons Emitted by Independent Sources
• Probing the Electronic Structure of Bilayer Graphene by Raman Scattering
• Electron optics with ballistic graphene junctions
• Two-particle Aharonov-Bohm effect and Entanglement in the electronic Hanbury Brown Twiss setup
• Coherent control of single electrons: a review of current progress
• Quantum Monte Carlo Calculation of the Binding Energy of Bilayer Graphene
• Perfectly Conducting Channel and Universality Crossover in Disordered Nano-Graphene Ribbons
• Distinct Signatures For Coulomb Blockade and Aharonov-Bohm Interference in Electronic Fabry-Perot Interferometers
• Continuum models for twisted bilayer graphene: the effects of lattice deformation and hopping parameter
• Finite bias visibility of the electronic Mach-Zehnder interferometer
• Edge-State Velocity and Coherence in a Quantum Hall Fabry-Perot Interferometer
• Spatial distribution of local currents of massless Dirac fermions in quantum transport through graphene nanoribbons
• Gate tuneable beamsplitter in ballistic graphene
• Single-electron entanglement and nonlocality
• Electronic Hong-Ou-Mandel interferometer for multi-mode entanglement detection
• Phase Coherent Transport in Graphene Nanoribbons and Graphene Nanoribbon Arrays
• A tunable electronic beam splitter realized with crossed graphene nanoribbons
• Teleporting quantum information encoded in fermionic modes
• Quantum transport across van der Waals domain walls in bilayer graphene
• A 50/50 electronic beam splitter in graphene nanoribbons as a building block for electron optics
• Quantum Logic Processor: A Mach Zehnder Interferometer based Approach

Cited by in corpus (8)

• Graphene nanoribbons for quantum electronics
• Twisted bilayer zigzag-graphene nanoribbon junctions with tunable edge states
• Efficient Chebyshev polynomial approach to quantum conductance calculations: Application to twisted bilayer graphene
• Transport signatures of Van Hove singularities in mesoscopic twisted bilayer graphene
• Electron beam splitting effect with crossed zigzag graphene nanoribbons in high-spin metallic states
• Spin-polarizing electron beam splitter from crossed graphene nanoribbons
• Gate-Tunable Optical Extinction of Graphene Nanoribbon Nanoclusters
• Mach--Zehnder-like interferometry with graphene nanoribbon networks