Transport Anisotropy in One-Dimensional Graphene Superlattice in the High Kronig-Penney Potential Limit

Phys Rev Lett. 2024 Feb 2;132(5):056204. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.132.056204.

Abstract

One-dimensional graphene superlattice subjected to strong Kronig-Penney (KP) potential is promising for achieving the electron-lensing effect, while previous studies utilizing the modulated dielectric gates can only yield a moderate, spatially dispersed potential profile. Here, we realize high KP potential modulation of graphene via nanoscale ferroelectric domain gating. Graphene transistors are fabricated on PbZr_{0.2}Ti_{0.8}O_{3} back gates patterned with periodic, 100-200 nm wide stripe domains. Because of band reconstruction, the h-BN top gating induces satellite Dirac points in samples with current along the superlattice vector s[over ^], a feature absent in samples with current perpendicular to s[over ^]. The satellite Dirac point position scales with the superlattice period (L) as ∝L^{β}, with β=-1.18±0.06. These results can be well explained by the high KP potential scenario, with the Fermi velocity perpendicular to s[over ^] quenched to about 1% of that for pristine graphene. Our study presents a promising material platform for realizing electron supercollimation and investigating flat band phenomena.