Nature Communications (Apr 2024)

Probing the tunable multi-cone band structure in Bernal bilayer graphene

  • Anna M. Seiler,
  • Nils Jacobsen,
  • Martin Statz,
  • Noelia Fernandez,
  • Francesca Falorsi,
  • Kenji Watanabe,
  • Takashi Taniguchi,
  • Zhiyu Dong,
  • Leonid S. Levitov,
  • R. Thomas Weitz

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-47342-0
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 15, no. 1
pp. 1 – 9

Abstract

Read online

Abstract Bernal bilayer graphene (BLG) offers a highly flexible platform for tuning the band structure, featuring two distinct regimes. One is a tunable band gap induced by large displacement fields. Another is a gapless metallic band occurring at low fields, featuring rich fine structure consisting of four linearly dispersing Dirac cones and van Hove singularities. Even though BLG has been extensively studied experimentally, the evidence of this band structure is still elusive, likely due to insufficient energy resolution. Here, we use Landau levels as markers of the energy dispersion and analyze the Landau level spectrum in a regime where the cyclotron orbits of electrons or holes in momentum space are small enough to resolve the distinct mini Dirac cones. We identify the presence of four Dirac cones and map out topological transitions induced by displacement field. By clarifying the low-energy properties of BLG bands, these findings provide a valuable addition to the toolkit for graphene electronics.