Berry-Phase Induced Dynamical Instability and Minimum Conductivity in Graphene

TL;DR

This paper explores how Berry phases induce dynamical instability in graphene's lattice, leading to a universal minimum conductivity near 4e^2/h, independent of sample shape or size.

Contribution

It introduces a novel mechanism linking Berry phases to lattice instability and minimum conductivity in graphene, supported by theoretical derivations and transport calculations.

Findings

Berry phases cause lattice instability near Dirac points.

Minimum conductivity of approximately 4e^2/h is theoretically confirmed.

The study links quantum Berry phases to classical transport properties.

Abstract

Single-layer carbon, or graphene, demonstrates amazing transport properties, such as the minimum conductivity near $\frac{4e^2}{h}$ independent of shapes and mobility of samples. This indicates there exist some unusual effects due to specific Dirac dispersion relation of fermion in two dimensions. By deriving fermion-lattice interaction Hamiltonian we show that Berry phases can be produced in fermion states around two Dirac points by relative rotations of two sublattices. The Berry phases in turn remove the degeneracies of energies for states near the Fermi surface, leading to a dynamical instability of the lattice with respect to the rotations. By considering the Berry phases emerging in an uncertain way on fermion wavefunctions in vicinities of the Fermi surface, the conductivity is calculated by using the Landauer-B\"{u}tticker formula together with the transfer-matrix technique, verifying $\sim \frac{4e^2}{h}$ quantized minimum conductivity as observed in experiments independent of shapes and sizes. The relationship between the chaotic structure of fermions due to the Berry phases and the classical transport properties are discussed. The physical meaning is profound as this relationship provides an excellent example to elucidate the mechanism of quantum-classical transition.