Conductance oscillations induced by ballistic snake states in a graphene heterojunction

TL;DR

This paper reports the experimental observation of conductance oscillations caused by ballistic snake states along p-n interfaces in high-quality graphene, demonstrating their robustness and potential for graphene-based electron optics.

Contribution

First experimental demonstration of conductance oscillations from ballistic snake states in high-mobility graphene p-n junctions, showing their long-distance propagation and thermal stability.

Findings

Conductance oscillations observed along graphene p-n interfaces.

Snake states propagate over 12 micrometers and survive up to 120 K.

Robust snake states enable potential applications in electron optics.

Abstract

The realization of p-n junctions in graphene, combined with the gapless and chiral nature of its massless Dirac fermions has led to the observation of many intriguing phenomena such as quantum Hall effect in bipolar regime, Klein tunneling, and Fabry-P\'{e}rot interferences all of which involve electronic transport across p-n junctions. Ballistic snake states propagating along the p-n junctions have been predicted to induce conductance oscillations, manifesting their twisting nature. However, transport studies along p-n junctions have so far only been performed in low mobility devices. Here, we report the observation of conductance oscillations due to ballistic snake states along a p-n interface in high quality graphene encapsulated by hexagonal boron nitride. These snake states are exceptionally robust as they can propagate over $12$~$\mu$m, limited only by the size of our sample, and survive up to at least $120$~K. The ability to guide carriers over a long distance provide a crucial building block for graphene-based electron optics.