Edge States and Quantum Hall Effect in Graphene under a Modulated Magnetic Field

Abstract

Graphene properties can be manipulated by a periodic potential. Based on the tight-binding model, we study graphene under a one-dimensional (1D) modulated magnetic field which contains both a uniform and a staggered component. New chiral current-carrying edge states are generated at the interfaces where the staggered component changes direction. These edge states lead to an unusual integer quantum Hall effect (QHE) in graphene, which can be observed experimentally by a standard four-terminal Hall measurement. When Zeeman spin splitting is considered, a novel state is predicted where the electron edge currents with opposite polarization propagate in the opposite directions at one sample boundary, whereas propagate in the same directions at the other sample boundary.