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Frustrated supercritical collapse in tunable charge arrays on graphene

Author

Listed:
  • Jiong Lu

    (University of California at Berkeley
    National University of Singapore
    National University of Singapore)

  • Hsin-Zon Tsai

    (University of California at Berkeley
    Shenzhen University
    Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)

  • Alpin N. Tatan

    (National University of Singapore
    National University of Singapore)

  • Sebastian Wickenburg

    (University of California at Berkeley
    Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)

  • Arash A. Omrani

    (University of California at Berkeley)

  • Dillon Wong

    (University of California at Berkeley
    Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)

  • Alexander Riss

    (University of California at Berkeley
    Technical University of Munich)

  • Erik Piatti

    (University of California at Berkeley
    Politecnico di Torino)

  • Kenji Watanabe

    (National Institute for Materials, Science, 1-1 Namiki)

  • Takashi Taniguchi

    (National Institute for Materials, Science, 1-1 Namiki)

  • Alex Zettl

    (University of California at Berkeley
    Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
    Kavli Energy NanoSciences Institute at the University of California at Berkeley)

  • Vitor M. Pereira

    (National University of Singapore
    National University of Singapore)

  • Michael F. Crommie

    (University of California at Berkeley
    Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
    Kavli Energy NanoSciences Institute at the University of California at Berkeley)

Abstract

The photon-like behavior of electrons in graphene causes unusual confinement properties that depend strongly on the geometry and strength of the surrounding potential. We report bottom-up synthesis of atomically-precise one-dimensional (1D) arrays of point charges on graphene that allow exploration of a new type of supercritical confinement of graphene carriers. The arrays were synthesized by arranging F4TCNQ molecules into a 1D lattice on back-gated graphene, allowing precise tuning of both the molecular charge and the array periodicity. While dilute arrays of ionized F4TCNQ molecules are seen to behave like isolated subcritical charges, dense arrays show emergent supercriticality. In contrast to compact supercritical clusters, these extended arrays display both supercritical and subcritical characteristics and belong to a new physical regime termed “frustrated supercritical collapse”. Here carriers in the far-field are attracted by a supercritical charge distribution, but their fall to the center is frustrated by subcritical potentials in the near-field, similar to trapping of light by a dense cluster of stars in general relativity.

Suggested Citation

  • Jiong Lu & Hsin-Zon Tsai & Alpin N. Tatan & Sebastian Wickenburg & Arash A. Omrani & Dillon Wong & Alexander Riss & Erik Piatti & Kenji Watanabe & Takashi Taniguchi & Alex Zettl & Vitor M. Pereira & M, 2019. "Frustrated supercritical collapse in tunable charge arrays on graphene," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 10(1), pages 1-8, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:10:y:2019:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-019-08371-2
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-08371-2
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