• 文献标题:   Helical Edge States and Quantum Phase Transitions in Tetralayer Graphene
  • 文献类型:   Article
  • 作  者:   CHE S, SHI YM, YANG JW, TIAN HD, CHEN RY, TANIGUCHI T, WATANABE K, SMIRNOV D, LAU CN, SHIMSHONI E, MURTHY G, FERTIG HA
  • 作者关键词:  
  • 出版物名称:   PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS
  • ISSN:   0031-9007 EI 1079-7114
  • 通讯作者地址:   Ohio State Univ
  • 被引频次:   0
  • DOI:   10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.036803
  • 出版年:   2020

▎ 摘  要

Helical conductors with spin-momentum locking are promising platforms for Majorana fermions. Here we report observation of two topologically distinct phases supporting helical edge states in charge neutral Bernal-stacked tetralayer graphene in Hall bar and Corbino geometries. As the magnetic field B-perpendicular to and out-of-plane displacement field D are varied, we observe a phase diagram consisting of an insulating phase and two metallic phases, with 0, 1, and 2 helical edge states, respectively. These phases are accounted for by a theoretical model that relates their conductance to spin-polarization plateaus. Transitions between them arise from a competition among interlayer hopping, electrostatic and exchange interaction energies. Our work highlights the complex competing symmetries and the rich quantum phases in few-layer graphene.