Electron supercollimation in graphene and Dirac fermion materials using one-dimensional disorder potentials

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that one-dimensional disorder potentials can induce supercollimation of electron wavepackets in graphene and Dirac fermion materials, challenging the conventional view that disorder always impedes electron transport.

Contribution

It reveals a novel counter-intuitive phenomenon where disorder enables electron supercollimation in Dirac materials, offering new control methods for electron wavepacket transport.

Findings

Disorder can induce supercollimation in graphene.

Electron wavepackets remain undistorted along a chosen direction.

Potential for improved electron transport control in Dirac materials.

Abstract

Electron supercollimation, in which a wavepacket is guided to move undistorted along a selected direction, is a highly desirable property that has yet been realized experimentally. Disorder in general is expected to inhibit supercollimation. Here, we report a counter-intuitive phenomenon of electron supercollimation by disorder in graphene and related Dirac fermion materials. We show that one can use one-dimensional disorder potentials to control electron wavepacket transport. This is distinct from known systems where an electron wavepacket would be further spread by disorder and hindered in the potential fluctuating direction. The predicted phenomenon has significant implications in the understanding and applications of electron transport in Dirac fermion materials.