2015.08.03

Kensuke Kobayashi and Sadashige Matsuo, in a collaborative research effort with a research group led by Teruo Ono and Kazuhito Tsukagoshi, have theoretically projected and successfully proven through experimentation the parity effect of the quantum Hall edge transport in graphene antidot devices with pn junctions (PNJs). Graphine, or single-layered graphite, has properties of both metals and semiconductors.

This group confirmed that the parity effect in graphene antidot devices has a good analogy to optical systems. This means various quantum interference devices can be produced by using the quantum hall edge transport with pn junctions.

The researchers have discovered the parity effect of the quantum Hall edge transport in graphene, which is a new ubiquitous phenomenon in quantum Hall edge transport in massless Dirac electron systems. First, we theoretically study a graphene device with an antidot and multiple pn junctions (PNJs) and have obtained a new compact formulae to show a significant parity effect regarding the number of PNJs. Then we have experimentally realized such graphene devices to confirm the new formulae. Our achievement is the first to establish the parity effect on bipolar quantum Hall edge transport in massless Dirac electron systems and is an important step forward to design new electron interferometer devices using graphene.

To learn more about this research, please view the full research report entitled “Parity effect of bipolar quantum Hall edge transport around graphene antidots” at this page of the Scientific Reports website.