Disorder-induced diffusion transport in flat-band systems with quantum metric

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Chau, Chun Wang, Xiang, Tian, Chen, Shuai A., Law, K. T.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Chau, Chun Wang
Xiang, Tian
Chen, Shuai A.
Law, K. T.
author_facet Chau, Chun Wang
Xiang, Tian
Chen, Shuai A.
Law, K. T.
contents Our previous understanding of transport in disordered system depends on the assumption that there is a well-defined Fermi velocity. The Fermi velocity determines important length scales in the system such as the diffusion length and localization length. However, nearly flat band materials with vanishing Fermi velocity, it is uncertain how to understand the disorder effects and what quantities determine the characteristic length scales in the system. In the clean limit, it is expected that the bulk transport is absent. In this work, we demonstrate, with a diamond lattice, that disorder can induce diffusion transport in a flat-band system with finite quantum metric. As disorder increases, the bulk transmission channels are activated, and the conductance reaches a maximum before decays inversely with disorder strength. Importantly, via the calculation of the wave-packet dynamics numerically, we show that the quantum metric determines the diffusion length of the system. Analytically, we show that the interplay between the disorder and quantum geometry gives rise to an effective Fermi velocity, as captured by the self-consistent Born approximation. The diffusion coefficient is identified from the Bethe-Salpeter equation under the ladder approximation. Our results reveal a disorder-driven delocalization mechanism in flat-band systems with finite quantum metric which cannot be understood by well-established theories of quantum diffusion. Our theory is important for understanding the disorder effects and transport properties of flat band materials such as twisted bilayer graphene which are current under intense investigation.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2412_19056
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Disorder-induced diffusion transport in flat-band systems with quantum metric
Chau, Chun Wang
Xiang, Tian
Chen, Shuai A.
Law, K. T.
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Our previous understanding of transport in disordered system depends on the assumption that there is a well-defined Fermi velocity. The Fermi velocity determines important length scales in the system such as the diffusion length and localization length. However, nearly flat band materials with vanishing Fermi velocity, it is uncertain how to understand the disorder effects and what quantities determine the characteristic length scales in the system. In the clean limit, it is expected that the bulk transport is absent. In this work, we demonstrate, with a diamond lattice, that disorder can induce diffusion transport in a flat-band system with finite quantum metric. As disorder increases, the bulk transmission channels are activated, and the conductance reaches a maximum before decays inversely with disorder strength. Importantly, via the calculation of the wave-packet dynamics numerically, we show that the quantum metric determines the diffusion length of the system. Analytically, we show that the interplay between the disorder and quantum geometry gives rise to an effective Fermi velocity, as captured by the self-consistent Born approximation. The diffusion coefficient is identified from the Bethe-Salpeter equation under the ladder approximation. Our results reveal a disorder-driven delocalization mechanism in flat-band systems with finite quantum metric which cannot be understood by well-established theories of quantum diffusion. Our theory is important for understanding the disorder effects and transport properties of flat band materials such as twisted bilayer graphene which are current under intense investigation.
title Disorder-induced diffusion transport in flat-band systems with quantum metric
topic Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2412.19056