Defect-assisted electron tunneling in 2D Van der Waals heterostructures

ORAL

Abstract

Defect-assisted resonant electron tunneling in hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) is demonstrated via electron transport measurements of graphite/hBN/graphite tunnel junctions. This study reveals distinct resonance peaks in the differential conductance (dI/dV) corresponding to native defect states in hBN. We investigate tunneling in devices fabricated from three sources of hBN and see substantial variation in defect density and electronic activity depending on the source and synthesis method. Further, hBN grown with excess carbon in the reaction chamber shows the emergence of sharp features typically associated with tunneling through point defects. These features are stable on sweep up/down and their temperature dependence reveals thermal broadening that allows for the inference of a zero-temperature inhomogeneously broadened linewidth of 9 meV. These results validate this modular platform as a tool for investigating tunneling spectroscopy of atomic defects in 2D materials and given recent interest in these systems as potential qubits, has a significant potential impact for emerging applications in quantum information.

*Work at The Ohio State University was supported by NSF award OMA-1936219. Work at Ames Lab (PCC, MX) was supported by the USDOE under Contract No. DE-AC02-07CH11358.

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Presenters

  • Morgan J Hamilton

    • The Ohio State University

Authors

  • Morgan J Hamilton

    • The Ohio State University

  • Marzieh Kavand

    • The Ohio State University
    • Ohio State University

  • Zoe Phillips

    • Ohio State University

  • Ethel Perez-Hoyos

    • Ohio State Univ - Columbus

  • Daniel Pharis

    • Cornell University

  • Yuxin Zhang

    • The Ohio State University

  • Mingyu Xu

    • Ames Laboratory and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50011
    • Iowa State University

  • Chun Ning Lau

    • Ohio State University
    • Ohio State Univ - Columbus

  • Takashi Taniguchi

    • Kyoto Univ
    • National Institute for Materials Science
    • Research Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics
    • Research Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics, National Institute for Materials Science
    • National Institute for Materials Sciences
    • NIMS
    • International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics, National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba 305-0044, Japan
    • National Institute for Material Science
    • International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics, NIMS, Japan
    • International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics, Tsukuba
    • National Institue for Materials Science
    • Kyoto University
    • National Institute of Materials Science
    • International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics and National Institute for Materials Science

  • Paul C Canfield

    • Iowa State University
    • Ames National Laboratory/Iowa State University

  • Ezekiel W Johnston-Halperin

    • Ohio state University