Observation of Kekulé vortices around hydrogen adatoms in graphene

Yifei Guan, Clement Dutreix, Héctor González-Herrero, Miguel M. Ugeda, Ivan Brihuega (), Mikhail I. Katsnelson, Oleg V. Yazyev () and Vincent T. Renard ()
Additional contact information
Yifei Guan: École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)
Clement Dutreix: UMR 5798
Héctor González-Herrero: Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
Miguel M. Ugeda: Paseo Manuel de Lardizábal 4
Ivan Brihuega: Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
Mikhail I. Katsnelson: Radboud University, Heijendaalseweg 135
Oleg V. Yazyev: École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)
Vincent T. Renard: CEA, Grenoble INP, IRIG, PHELIQS

Nature Communications, 2024, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-6

Abstract: Abstract Fractional charges are one of the wonders of the fractional quantum Hall effect. Such objects are also anticipated in two-dimensional hexagonal lattices under time reversal symmetry—emerging as bound states of a rotating bond texture called a Kekulé vortex. However, the physical mechanisms inducing such topological defects remain elusive, preventing experimental realization. Here, we report the observation of Kekulé vortices in the local density of states of graphene under time reversal symmetry. The vortices result from intervalley scattering on chemisorbed hydrogen adatoms. We uncover that their 2π winding is reminiscent of the Berry phase π of the massless Dirac electrons. We can also induce a Kekulé pattern without vortices by creating point scatterers such as divacancies, which break different point symmetries. Our local-probe study thus confirms point defects as versatile building blocks for Kekulé engineering of graphene’s electronic structure.

Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-47267-8 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:15:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-024-47267-8

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-47267-8

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().