Effective numbers of charge carriers in doped graphene: The generalized Fermi liquid approach

TL;DR

This paper extends the theoretical model of graphene's electrical conductivity to include a two-band approach, explaining doping-dependent behaviors and distinguishing between intraband and interband contributions in different regimes.

Contribution

It introduces a two-band quantum transport model with multiple relaxation rates, providing a consistent explanation for conductivity behavior in doped graphene.

Findings

Intraband contribution vanishes at T=0 K in ultraclean graphene.

Different mobilities characterize intraband and interband contributions.

Model aligns with experimental observations of conductivity and plasmon resonances.

Abstract

The single-band current-dipole Kubo formula for the dynamical conductivity of heavily doped graphene from Kup\v{c}i\'{c} [Phys. Rev. B 91, 205428 (2015)] is extended to a two-band model for conduction $\pi$ electrons in lightly doped graphene. Using a posteriori relaxation-time approximation in the two-band quantum transport equations, with two different relaxation rates and one quasi-particle lifetime, we explain a seemingly inconsistent dependence of the dc conductivity $\sigma^{\rm dc}_{\alpha \alpha}$ of ultraclean and dirty lightly doped graphene samples on electron doping, in a way consistent with the charge continuity equation. It is also shown that the intraband contribution to the effective number of conduction electrons in $\sigma^{\rm dc}_{\alpha \alpha}$ vanishes at $T=0$ K in the ultraclean regime, but it remains finite in the dirty regime. The present model is shown to be consistent with a picture in which the intraband and interband contributions to $\sigma^{\rm dc}_{\alpha \alpha}$ are characterized by two different mobilities of conduction electrons, the values of which are well below the widely accepted value of mobility in ultraclean graphene. The dispersions of Dirac and $\pi$ plasmon resonances are reexamined to show that the present, relatively simple expression for the dynamical conductivity tensor can be used to study simultaneously single-particle excitations in the dc and optical conductivity and collective excitations in energy loss spectroscopy experiments.