TY - JOUR
T1 - Spin-orbit gap of graphene
T2 - First-principles calculations
AU - Yao, Yugui
AU - Ye, Fei
AU - Qi, Xiao Liang
AU - Zhang, Shou Cheng
AU - Fang, Zhong
PY - 2007
Y1 - 2007
N2 - Even though graphene is a low-energy system consisting of a two-dimensional honeycomb lattice of carbon atoms, its quasiparticle excitations are fully described by the (2+1) -dimensional relativistic Dirac equation. In this paper we show that, while the spin-orbit interaction in graphene is of the order of 4 meV, it opens up a gap of the order of 10-3 meV at the Dirac points. We present a first-principles calculation of the spin-orbit gap, and explain the behavior in terms of a simple tight-binding model. Our result also shows that the recently predicted quantum spin Hall effect in graphene can occur only at unrealistically low temperature.
AB - Even though graphene is a low-energy system consisting of a two-dimensional honeycomb lattice of carbon atoms, its quasiparticle excitations are fully described by the (2+1) -dimensional relativistic Dirac equation. In this paper we show that, while the spin-orbit interaction in graphene is of the order of 4 meV, it opens up a gap of the order of 10-3 meV at the Dirac points. We present a first-principles calculation of the spin-orbit gap, and explain the behavior in terms of a simple tight-binding model. Our result also shows that the recently predicted quantum spin Hall effect in graphene can occur only at unrealistically low temperature.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=33846457928&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1103/PhysRevB.75.041401
DO - 10.1103/PhysRevB.75.041401
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:33846457928
SN - 1098-0121
VL - 75
JO - Physical Review B - Condensed Matter and Materials Physics
JF - Physical Review B - Condensed Matter and Materials Physics
IS - 4
M1 - 041401
ER -