Graphene is a rapidly rising star on the horizon of materials science and condensed-matter physics. This strictly two-dimensional material exhibits exceptionally high crystal and electronic quality, and, despite its short history, has already revealed a cornucopia of new physics and potential applications, which are briefly discussed here. Whereas one can be certain of the realness of applications only when commercial products appear, graphene no longer requires any further proof of its importance in terms of fundamental physics. Owing to its unusual electronic spectrum, graphene has led to the emergence of a new paradigm of 'relativistic' condensed-matter physics, where quantum relativistic phenomena, some of which are unobservable in high-energy physics, can now be mimicked and tested in table-top experiments. More generally, graphene represents a conceptually new class of materials that are only one atom thick, and, on this basis, offers new inroads into low-dimensional physics that has never ceased to surprise and continues to provide a fertile ground for applications.

The rise of graphene

This article reviews the basic theoretical aspects of graphene, a one-atom-thick allotrope of carbon, with unusual two-dimensional Dirac-like electronic excitations. The Dirac electrons can be controlled by application of external electric and magnetic fields, or by altering sample geometry and/or topology. The Dirac electrons behave in unusual ways in tunneling, confinement, and the integer quantum Hall effect. The electronic properties of graphene stacks are discussed and vary with stacking order and number of layers. Edge (surface) states in graphene depend on the edge termination (zigzag or armchair) and affect the physical properties of nanoribbons. Different types of disorder modify the Dirac equation leading to unusual spectroscopic and transport properties. The effects of electron-electron and electron-phonon interactions in single layer and multilayer graphene are also presented.

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The electronic properties of graphene

There are few phenomena in condensed matter physics that are defined only by the fundamental constants and do not depend on material parameters. Examples are the resistivity quantum, h/e2 (h is Planck's constant and e the electron charge), that appears in a variety of transport experiments and the magnetic flux quantum, h/e, playing an important role in the physics of superconductivity. By and large, sophisticated facilities and special measurement conditions are required to observe any of these phenomena. We show that the opacity of suspended graphene is defined solely by the fine structure constant, a = e2/hc feminine 1/137 (where c is the speed of light), the parameter that describes coupling between light and relativistic electrons and that is traditionally associated with quantum electrodynamics rather than materials science. Despite being only one atom thick, graphene is found to absorb a significant (pa = 2.3%) fraction of incident white light, a consequence of graphene's unique electronic structure.

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Fine Structure Constant Defines Visual Transparency of Graphene

Weyl and Dirac semimetals are three-dimensional phases of matter with gapless electronic excitations that are protected by topology and symmetry. As three-dimensional analogs of graphene, they have generated much recent interest. Deep connections exist with particle physics models of relativistic chiral fermions, and, despite their gaplessness, to solid-state topological and Chern insulators. Their characteristic electronic properties lead to protected surface states and novel responses to applied electric and magnetic fields. The theoretical foundations of these phases, their proposed realizations in solid-state systems, and recent experiments on candidate materials as well as their relation to other states of matter are reviewed.

Weyl and Dirac semimetals in three-dimensional solids

Topological insulators are materials with a bulk excitation gap generated by the spin-orbit interaction that are different from conventional insulators. This distinction is characterized by ${Z}_{2}$ topological invariants, which characterize the ground state. In two dimensions, there is a single ${Z}_{2}$ invariant that distinguishes the ordinary insulator from the quantum spin-Hall phase. In three dimensions, there are four ${Z}_{2}$ invariants that distinguish the ordinary insulator from ``weak'' and ``strong'' topological insulators. These phases are characterized by the presence of gapless surface (or edge) states. In the two-dimensional quantum spin-Hall phase and the three-dimensional strong topological insulator, these states are robust and are insensitive to weak disorder and interactions. In this paper, we show that the presence of inversion symmetry greatly simplifies the problem of evaluating the ${Z}_{2}$ invariants. We show that the invariants can be determined from the knowledge of the parity of the occupied Bloch wave functions at the time-reversal invariant points in the Brillouin zone. Using this approach, we predict a number of specific materials that are strong topological insulators, including the semiconducting alloy ${\mathrm{Bi}}_{1\ensuremath{-}x}{\mathrm{Sb}}_{x}$ as well as $\ensuremath{\alpha}\text{\ensuremath{-}}\mathrm{Sn}$ and HgTe under uniaxial strain. This paper also includes an expanded discussion of our formulation of the topological insulators in both two and three dimensions, as well as implications for experiments.

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Topological insulators with inversion symmetry

Because of the chiral nature of electrons in a monolayer of graphite (graphene) one can expect weak antilocalization and a positive weak-field magnetoresistance in it. However, trigonal warping (which breaks $\mathbf{p}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}\ensuremath{-}\mathbf{p}$ symmetry of the Fermi line in each valley) suppresses antilocalization, while intervalley scattering due to atomically sharp scatterers in a realistic graphene sheet or by edges in a narrow wire tends to restore conventional negative magnetoresistance. We show this by evaluating the dependence of the magnetoresistance of graphene on relaxation rates associated with various possible ways of breaking a ``hidden'' valley symmetry of the system.

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Weak-localization magnetoresistance and valley symmetry in graphene.

Electron-phonon scattering is studied within an effective-mass theory. A continuum model for acoustic phonons is introduced and electron-phonon interaction due to modification of band structure is derived as well as a normal deformation potential. In a metallic nanotube, the deformation potential does not participate in electron scattering and a metallic nanotube becomes nearly a one-dimensional ballistic conductor even at room temperature. A resistivity determined by small band-structure interaction depends on the chirality at low temperatures. A magnetic field perpendicular to the axis induces electron scattering by the deformation potential, giving rise to huge positive magnetoresistance.

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Phonons and electron-phonon scattering in carbon nanotubes

We have calculated the weak-localization correction to the conductivity for disordered electrons in a two-dimensional honeycomb lattice and shown that it can be either positive or negative depending on the interaction range of impurity potentials. From symmetry considerations, the symplectic class turns out to be realized at nonzero temperatures and crossover to the orthogonal class is predicted with decreasing temperature.

Crossover from symplectic to orthogonal class in a two-dimensional honeycomb lattice.

A topological anomaly present at zero energy is shown to give rise to a peculiar and singular behavior of the dynamic and static conductivity in two-dimensional honeycomb lattices. A calculation in a self-consistent Born approximation reveals that this singular dependence prevails although being somewhat smoothed out even if level broadening effects are taken into account.

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Dynamical Conductivity and Zero-Mode Anomaly in Honeycomb Lattices

It is proved that a conducting channel transmitting perfectly without backscattering is present independent of energy in metallic carbon nanotubes for scatterers with potential range larger than the lattice constant. In the case that several traveling channels are present, the conductance decreases from the ideal value determined by the number of traveling modes to the single-channel value when the length exceeds the mean free path determined by a Boltzmann transport equation. Further, inelastic scattering makes the conductance decrease in proportion to the inverse of the length in qualitative agreement with the Boltzmann result.

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Hidekatsu Suzuura

Papers

Weak-localization magnetoresistance and valley symmetry in graphene.

Phonons and electron-phonon scattering in carbon nanotubes

Crossover from symplectic to orthogonal class in a two-dimensional honeycomb lattice.

Dynamical Conductivity and Zero-Mode Anomaly in Honeycomb Lattices

Presence of Perfectly Conducting Channel in Metallic Carbon Nanotubes