Gapped phase in AA stacked bilayer graphene

TL;DR

This paper investigates the gapped phase in AA-stacked bilayer graphene, revealing an Ising-type order parameter and a transition that evolves into a Kosterlitz-Thouless transition as interlayer separation decreases, with a low transition temperature.

Contribution

It introduces a continuum model analyzing the symmetry-breaking and phase transition in AA-stacked bilayer graphene using Hartree-Fock approximation with self-consistent screening.

Findings

Identifies an Ising-type order parameter involving charge transfer between layers.

Shows the phase transition evolves into a Kosterlitz-Thouless transition as interlayer distance approaches zero.

Estimates the transition temperature to be a few Kelvin.

Abstract

AA-stacked bilayer graphene supports Fermi circles in its bonding and antibonding bands which coincide exactly, leading to symmetry-breaking in the presence of electron-electron interactions. We analyze a continuum model of this system in the Hartree-Fock approximation, using a self-consistently screened interaction that accounts for the gap in the spectrum in the broken symmetry state. The order parameter in the groundstate is shown to be of the Ising type, involving transfer of charge between the layers in opposite directions for different sublattices. We analyze the Ising phase transition for the system, and argue that it continuously evolves into a Kosterlitz-Thouless transition in the limit of vanishing interlayer separation $d$. The transition temperature is shown to depend only on the effective spin stiffness of the system even for $d>0$, and an estimate its value suggests the transition temperature is of order a few degrees Kelvin.