Gapless insulator and a band gap scaling law in semihydrogenated graphene

Authors

Anthony WrightFollow
T E. O'Brien, School of Engineering Physics Univ of WollongongFollow
Chao Zhang, University of WollongongFollow
Dieter BeavenFollow

RIS ID

33354

Publication Details

Wright, A., O'Brien, T. E., Beaven, D. and Zhang, C. (2010). Gapless insulator and a band gap scaling law in semihydrogenated graphene. Applied Physics Letters, 97 (4), 043104-1-043104-3.

Abstract

We demonstrate two unusual electronic properties of semihydrogenated graphene with variable sized A- or B-hydrogenated domains within the tight-binding formalism as follows: (i) a universal band gap scaling law which states that the band gap depends linearly upon the ratio of the number of A- to B-hydrogenated atoms, N_A/N_B, reaching zero gap at N_A = N_B, but independent of the domain size, and (ii) an insulating state with zero band gap at N_A = N_B, a rare phenomenon in nature. We confirm this gapless insulator state by the zero optical conductance at low frequencies.