Thermal Transport Signatures of Broken-Symmetry Phases in Graphene

Aharonov-Bohm Oscillations in Bilayer Graphene Quantum Hall Edge State Fabry-Pérot Interferometers

Bernal-stacked bilayer graphene exhibits a wealth of interaction-driven phenomena, including robust even-denominator fractional quantum Hall states. We construct Fabry-Pérot interferometers using a split-gate design and present measurements of the Aharonov-Bohm oscillations. The edge state velocity is found to be approximately 6 × 10⁴ m/s at filling factor ν = 2 and decreases with increasing filling factor. The dc bias and temperature dependence of the interference point to electron-electron interaction induced decoherence mechanisms. These results pave the way for the quest of fractional and non-Abelian braiding statistics in this promising device platform.

Scattering of Magnons at Graphene Quantum-Hall-Magnet Junctions

Motivated by recent nonlocal transport studies of quantum-Hall-magnet (QHM) states formed in monolayer graphene's N=0 Landau level, we study the scattering of QHM magnons by gate-controlled junctions between states with different integer filling factors ν. For the ν=1|-1|1 geometry we find that magnons are weakly scattered by electric potential variation in the junction region, and that the scattering is chiral when the junction lacks a mirror symmetry. For the ν=1|0|1 geometry, we find that kinematic constraints completely block magnon transmission if the incident angle exceeds a critical value. Our results explain the suppressed nonlocal-voltage signals observed in the ν=1|0|1 case. We use our theory to propose that valley waves generated at ν=-1|1 junctions and magnons can be used in combination to probe the spin or valley flavor structure of QHM states at integer and fractional filling factors.

Universal quantized thermal conductance in graphene

The universal quantization of thermal conductance provides information on a state's topological order. Recent measurements revealed that the observed value of thermal conductance of the 5 2 state is inconsistent with either Pfaffian or anti-Pfaffian model, motivating several theoretical articles. Analysis has been made complicated by the presence of counter-propagating edge channels arising from edge reconstruction, an inevitable consequence of separating the dopant layer from the GaAs quantum well and the resulting soft confining potential. Here, we measured thermal conductance in graphene with atomically sharp confining potential by using sensitive noise thermometry on hexagonal boron-nitride encapsulated graphene devices, gated by either SiO₂/Si or graphite back gate. We find the quantization of thermal conductance within 5% accuracy for ν = 1 ; 4 3 ; 2 and 6 plateaus, emphasizing the universality of flow of information. These graphene quantum Hall thermal transport measurements will allow new insight into exotic systems like even-denominator quantum Hall fractions in graphene.

Electrical generation and detection of spin waves in a quantum Hall ferromagnet

Spin waves are collective excitations of magnetic systems. An attractive setting for studying long-lived spin-wave physics is the quantum Hall (QH) ferromagnet, which forms spontaneously in clean two-dimensional electron systems at low temperature and in a perpendicular magnetic field. We used out-of-equilibrium occupation of QH edge channels in graphene to excite and detect spin waves in magnetically ordered QH states. Our experiments provide direct evidence for long-distance spin-wave propagation through different ferromagnetic phases in the N = 0 Landau level, as well as across the insulating canted antiferromagnetic phase. Our results will enable experimental investigation of the fundamental magnetic properties of these exotic two-dimensional electron systems.