Resonant Zener Interferometry in van der Waals Heterostructures

Abstract

We demonstrate the presence of quantum interference effects in van der Waals heterostructures subject to in-plane electric fields. The in-plane field $F$ accelerates carriers through a hybridized band edge, and interlayer Zener tunneling occurs by distinct pathways, resulting in a solid-state quantum interferometer with imprints in transport observables. For parabolic-band bilayers, we identify two characteristic signatures which are observable in lateral conductance: Landau-Zener-Stuckelberg oscillations in the band-overlap regime periodic in $1/F$ at small fields, resembling electric-field induced quantum oscillations, and a pronounced resonance at $F\propto T_0^{3/2}$ set by the interlayer tunneling $T_0$. These features provide a directly accessible probe of coherent interferometric dynamics in van der Waals heterostructures, and could be harnessed for more precise engineering and characterization.

6+10 pages