Accurate effective model Hamiltonian for non-commensurate graphene on hexagonal boron nitride substrate

ORAL

Abstract

High quality hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) crystals have emerged as a promising substrate and barrier-material for graphene nanoelectronic devices. The influence of the h-BN substrate on graphene's electronic properties is sometimes observable, but often extremely weak. We develop a theory of the h-BN graphene interaction that is based on first-principles electron tunneling amplitudes calculated as a function of horizontal displacement between commensurate honeycomb lattices. The effective Hamiltonian we derive is valid for arbitrary rotation angles between adjacent graphene and h-BN sheets.

*We acknowledge support from DOE Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering grant DE-FG03- 02ER45958

–

Authors

  • Jeil Jung

    • The University of Texas at Austin

  • Zhenhua Qiao

    • The University of Texas at Austin
    • Department of Physics, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA

  • Allan MacDonald

    • The University of Texas at Austin
    • Department of Physics, University of Texas at Austin
    • University of Texas Austin
    • University of Texas at Austin
    • Department of Physics, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, USA