A transfer matrix approach is used to study the electronic transport in graphene superlattices with long-range correlated barrier spacements. By considering the low-energy electronic excitations as massless Dirac fermions, we compute by transmission spectra of graphene superlattices with potential barriers having spacements randomly distributed with long-range correlations governed by a power-law spectral density $S(k)\propto 1/k^α$. We show that at large incidence angles, the correlations in the disorder distribution do not play a significant role in the electronic transmission. However, long-range correlations suppress the Anderson localization as normal incidence is approached and a band of transmitting modes sets up reminiscent of Klein tunneling.
We study the localization properties of disordered semiconductor superlattices driven by ac-fields. The localization length of the electrons in the superlattice increases when the frequency of the driving field is smaller than the miniband width. We show that there is an optimal value of the amplitude of the driving field for which the localization length of the system is maximal. This maximum localization length increases with the inverse of the driving frequency.
We report the experimental study of resonant Rayleigh scattering in GaAs-AlGaAs superlattices with ordered and intentionally disordered potential profiles (correlated and uncorrelated) in the growth direction z. We show that the intentional disorder along z modify markedly the energy dispersion of the dephasing rates of the excitons. The application of an external magnetic field in the same direction allows the continuous tuning of the in plane exciton localization and to study the interplay between the in plane and vertical disorder.
We study the conductance of disordered graphene superlattices with short-range structural correlations. The system consists of electron- and hole-doped graphenes of various thicknesses, which fluctuate randomly around their mean value. The effect of the randomness on the probability of transmission through the system of various sizes is studied. We show that in a disordered superlattice the quasiparticle that approaches the barrier interface almost perpendicularly transmits through the system. The conductivity of the finite-size system is computed and shown that the conductance vanishes when t…
We derive a theory for transmission through disordered finite superlattices in which the interface roughness scattering is treated by disorder averaging. This procedure permits efficient calculation of the transmission thr ough samples with large cross-sections. These calculations can be performed utilizing either the Keldysh or the Landauer-Büttiker transmission formalisms, both of which yield identical equations. For energies close to the lowest miniband, we demonstrate the accuracy of the computationally efficient Wannier-function approximation. Our calculations indicate that the transmissi…
We study the dynamical behavior of disordered quantum-well-based semiconductor superlattices where the disorder is intentional and short-range correlated. We show that, whereas the transmission time of a particle grows exponentially with the number of wells in an usual disordered superlattice for any value of the incident particle energy, for specific values of the incident energy this time increases linearly when correlated disorder is included. As expected, those values of the energy coincide with a narrow subband of extended states predicted by the static calculations of Dom\'ınguez-Adame {…
We present the electrical transport characteristics of a batch of nano-crystalline diamond films of varying nitrogen concentrations and explain the conduction mechanism by the disordered quasi-superlattice model applied to semiconductor heterostructures. Synthesized by the hot filament chemical vapour deposition technique, the degree of structural disorder in the films, confirmed from Raman spectroscopy, is found to be controllable, resulting in the transition of conduction mechanism from localized and activated to the metallic conduction regime. Hence through high field magneto-resistance mea…
We theoretically investigate light propagation and Anderson localization in one-dimensional disordered superlattices composed of dielectric stacks with graphene sheets in between. Disorder is introduced either on graphene material parameters ({\it e.g.} Fermi energy) or on the widths of the dielectric stacks. We derive an analytic expression for the localization length $ξ$, and compare it to numerical simulations using transfer matrix technique; a very good agreement is found. We demonstrate that the presence of graphene may strongly attenuate the anomalously delocalised Breswter modes, and is…
Many-body localization (MBL) has attracted significant attention due to its immunity to thermalization, role in logarithmic entanglement entropy growth, and opportunities to reach exotic quantum orders. However, experimental realization of MBL in solid-state systems has remained challenging. Here we report evidence of a possible phonon MBL phase in disordered GaAs/AlAs superlattices. Through grazing-incidence inelastic X-ray scattering, we observe a strong deviation of the phonon population from equilibrium in samples doped with ErAs nanodots at low temperature, signaling a departure from ther…
Using the transfer matrix method, we study the conductance of the chiral particles through a monolayer graphene superlattice with long-range correlated disorder distributed on the potential of the barriers. Even though the transmission of the particles through graphene superlattice with white noise potentials is suppressed, the transmission is revived in a wide range of angles when the potential heights are long-range correlated with a power spectrum $S(k)\sim1/k^β$. As a result, the conductance increases with increasing the correlation exponent values gives rise a metallic phase. We obtain a …
Graphene superlattices (GSLs), formed by subjecting a monolayer graphene sheet to a periodic potential, can be used to engineer band structures and, from there, charge transport properties, but these are sensitive to the presence of disorder. The localization behavior of massless 2D Dirac particles induced by weak disorder is studied for both scalar-potential and vector-potential GSLs, computationally as well as analytically by a weak-disorder expansion. In particular, it is investigated how the Lyapunov exponent (inverse localization length) depends on the incidence angle to a 1D GSL. Delocal…
The elastic collective modes of a moiré superlattice arise not from vibrations of a rigid crystal but from the relative displacement between the constituent layers. Despite their similarity to acoustic phonons, these modes, called phasons, are not protected by any conservation law. Here, we show that disorder in the relative orientation between the layers and thermal fluctuations associated with their sliding motion degrade the propagation of sound in the moiré superlattice. Specifically, the phason modes become overdamped at low energies and acquire a finite gap, which displays a universal de…
We study the electronic properties of GaAs-AlGaAs superlattices with intentional correlated disorder by means of photoluminescence and vertical dc resistance. The results are compared to those obtained in ordered and uncorrelated disordered superlattices. We report the first experimental evidence that spatial correlations inhibit localization of states in disordered low-dimensional systems, as our previous theoretical calculations suggested, in contrast to the earlier belief that all eigenstates are localized.
We study charge transport in one-dimensional graphene superlattices created by applying layered periodic and disordered potentials. It is shown that the transport and spectral properties of such structures are strongly anisotropic. In the direction perpendicular to the layers, the eigenstates in a disordered sample are delocalized for all energies and provide a minimal non-zero conductivity, which cannot be destroyed by disorder, no matter how strong this is. However, along with extended states, there exist discrete sets of angles and energies with exponentially localized eigenfunctions (disor…
We consider a square lattice configuration of circular gate-defined quantum dots in an unbiased graphene sheet and calculate the electronic, particularly spectral properties of finite albeit actual sample sized systems by means of a numerically exact kernel polynomial expansion technique. Analyzing the local density of states and the momentum resolved photoemission spectrum we find clear evidence for a series of quasi-bound states at the dots, which can be probed by optical measurements. We further analyze the interplay of the superlattice structure with dot localized modes on the electron ene…
Nanostructured superlattices are promising materials for novel electronic devices due to their adjustable physical properties. Periodic superlattices facilitate coherent phonon thermal transport due to constructive wave interference at the boundaries between the materials. However, it is possible to induce a crossover from coherent to incoherent transport regimes by adjusting the superlattice period. We have recently observed such crossover in periodic graphene-boron nitride nanoribbons as the length of individual domains was increased. In general, transport properties are dominated by transla…
We study one-dimensional systems with random diagonal disorder but off-diagonal short-range correlations imposed by structural constraints. We find that these correlations generate effective conduction channels for finite systems. At a certain golden correlation condition for the hopping amplitudes, we find an extended state for an infinite system. Our model has important implications to charge transport in DNA molecules, and a possible set of experiments in semiconductor superlattices is proposed to verify our most interesting theoretical predictions.
We calculate the shot noise generated by evanescent modes in graphene for several experimental setups. For two impurity-free graphene strips kept at the Dirac point by gate potentials, separated by a long highly doped region, we find that the Fano factor takes the universal value F = 1/4. For a large superlattice consisting of many strips gated to the Dirac point interspersed among doped regions, we find F = 1/(8 ln 2). These results differ from the value F = 1/3 predicted for a disordered metal, providing an unambiguous experimental signature of evanescent mode transport in graphene.
Structural manipulation at the nanoscale breaks the intrinsic correlations among different energy carrier transport properties, achieving high thermoelectric performance. However, the coupled multifunctional (phonon and electron) transport in the design of nanomaterials makes the optimization of thermoelectric properties challenging. Machine learning brings convenience to the design of nanostructures with large degree of freedom. Herein, we conducted comprehensive thermoelectric optimization of isotopic armchair graphene nanoribbons (AGNRs) with antidots and interfaces by combining Green's fun…
We investigate the impact of structural disorder on electronic transport in gold nanocrystal monolayers. Arrays ranging from void-filled networks to well-ordered superlattices show clear voltage thresholds V_T due to Coulomb blockade, and temperature-independent conduction indicative of quantum tunneling. Current-voltage characteristics of arrays with and without long-range structural order were found to collapse onto distinct scaling curves. The former follow a single power-law: I (V-V_T)^ζ, ζ= 2.25+/-0.1. The latter show additional structure, reflecting the underlying disordered topology.
