Direct imaging of topological edge states at a bilayer graphene domain wall.
The AB-BA domain wall in gapped graphene bilayers is a rare naked structure hosting topological electronic states. Although it has been extensively studied in theory, a direct imaging of its topological edge states is still missing. Here we image the topological edge states at the graphene bilayer domain wall by using scanning tunnelling microscope. The simultaneously obtained atomic-resolution images of the domain wall provide us unprecedented opportunities to measure the spatially varying edge states within it. The one-dimensional conducting channels are observed to be mainly located around the two edges of the domain wall, which is reproduced quite well by our theoretical calculations. Our experiment further demonstrates that the one-dimensional topological states are quite robust even in the presence of high magnetic fields. The result reported here may raise hopes of graphene-based electronics with ultra-low dissipation.
Center for Advanced Quantum Studies, Department of Physics, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China.
Long-Jing
LJ
Yin
College of Physics, Optoelectronics and Energy, Soochow University, Suzhou 215006, China.
Hua
H
Jiang
Center for Advanced Quantum Studies, Department of Physics, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China.
Jia-Bin
JB
Qiao
Center for Advanced Quantum Studies, Department of Physics, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China.
Lin
L
He