Band gap engineering in AA-stacked bilayer graphene

Abstract

We demonstrate that AA-stacked bilayer graphene (AA-BLG) encapsulated by dielectric materials can possess an energy gap due to the induced mass term. Using the four-band continuum model, we evaluate transmission and reflection probabilities along with the respective conductance. Considering interlayer mass-term difference opens a gap in the energy spectrum and also couples the two Dirac cones. This cone coupling induces an inter-cone transport that is asymmetric with respect to the normal incidence in the presence of asymmetric mass-term. The energy spectrum of the gapped AA-BLG exhibits electron-hole asymmetry that is reflected in the associated intra- and inter-cone channels. We also find that even though Klein tunneling exists in gated and biased AA-BLG, it is precluded by the interlayer mass-term difference and instead Febry-P\'erot resonances appear.