No abstract

Graphene/hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) has emerged as a model van der Waals heterostructure 1 as the superlattice potential, which is induced by lattice mismatch and crystal orientation, gives rise to various novel quantum phenomena, such as the self-similar Hofstadter butterfly states 2-5 . Although the newly generated second-generation Dirac cones (SDCs) are believed to be crucial for understanding such intriguing phenomena, fundamental knowledge of SDCs, such as locations and dispersion, and the e ect of inversion symmetry breaking on the gap opening, still remains highly debated due to the lack of direct experimental results. Here we report direct experimental results on the dispersion of SDCs in 0 • -aligned graphene/h-BN heterostructures using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. Our data unambiguously reveal SDCs at the corners of the superlattice Brillouin zone, and at only one of the two superlattice valleys. Moreover, gaps of approximately 100 meV and approximately 160 meV are observed at the SDCs and the original graphene Dirac cone, respectively. Our work highlights the important role of a strong inversion-symmetry-breaking perturbation potential in the physics of graphene/h-BN, and fills critical knowledge gaps in the band structure engineering of Dirac fermions by a superlattice potential.Hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) shares a similar honeycomb lattice structure to graphene, yet its lattice is stretched by 1.8%. Moreover, the breaking of the inversion symmetry by distinct boron and nitrogen sublattices leads to a large bandgap (5.97 eV) in the π band, which is in sharp contrast to the gapless Dirac cones in graphene. By stacking graphene atop h-BN to form a van der Waals heterostructure 1 , graphene/h-BN not only exhibits greatly improved properties for device applications, such as reduced ripples, suppressed charge inhomogeneities and higher mobility 6,7 , but also provides unique opportunities for band structure engineering of Dirac fermions by a periodic potential 8,9 . The superlattice potential induced by the lattice mismatch and crystal orientation can significantly modify the electronic properties of graphene and lead to various novel quantum phenomena, for example, the emergence of second-generation Dirac cones (SDCs), which are crucial for the realization of Hofstadter butterfly states under an applied magnetic field 2-5 , renormalization of the Fermi velocity 8,[10][11][12] , gap opening at the Dirac point 4,13-16 , topological currents 15 and gate-dependent pseudospin mixing 17 . Hence, understanding the effects of the superlattice potential on the band structure of graphene is crucial for advancing its device applications, and for gaining new knowledge about the fundamental physics of Dirac fermions in a periodic potential.Previously, the existence of SDCs has been deduced from scanning tunnelling spectroscopy, resistivity and capacitance measurements 2,5,18,19 . However, such measurements are not capable of mapping out the electronic dispersion with momentum-resolved informatio...

Ultrafast laser-induced periodic surface subwavelength ripples, categorized based on the ripple period into near-subwavelength ripples (NSRs) and deep-subwavelength ripples (DSRs), are increasingly found in the variety of materials such as metals, semiconductors and dielectrics. The fabrication of hierarchical periodic NSRs and DSRs on the same laser-irradiated area is still a challenge since the connection between the two remains a puzzle. Here we present an experimental study of linearly polarized picosecond laser-induced hierarchical periodic NSRs and DSRs on stainless-steel surfaces. While experiencing peak power density higher than a threshold value of 91.9 GW/cm2, in the laser-scanned area appear the hierarchical periodic NSRs and DSRs (in particular, the DSRs are vertically located in the valley of parallel NSRs). A large area of the uniformly hierarchical periodic NSRs and DSRs, with the spatial periods 356 ± 17 nm and 58 ± 15 nm, respectively, is fabricated by a set of optimized laser-scanning parameters. A qualitative explanation based on the surface plasmon polariton (SPP) modulated periodic coulomb explosion is proposed for unified interpretation of the formation mechanism of hierarchical periodic NSRs and DSRs, which includes lattice orientation of grains as a factor at low peak power density, so that the initial DSRs formed have a clear conformance with the metallic grains.