Klein tunneling degradation and enhanced Fabry-P\'erot interference in graphene/h-BN moir\'e-superlattice devices

Abstract

Hexagonal boron-nitride (h-BN) provides an ideal substrate for supporting graphene devices to achieve fascinating transport properties, such as Klein tunneling, electron optics and other novel quantum transport phenomena. However, depositing graphene on h-BN creates moir\'e superlattices, whose electronic properties can be significantly manipulated by controlling the lattice alignment between layers. In this work, the effects of these moir\'e structures on the transport properties of graphene are investigated using atomistic simulations. At large misalignment angles (leading to small moir\'e cells), the transport properties (most remarkably, Klein tunneling) of pristine graphene devices are conserved. On the other hand, in the nearly aligned cases, the moir\'e interaction induces stronger effects, significantly affecting electron transport in graphene. In particular, Klein tunneling is significantly degraded. In contrast, strong Fabry-P\'erot interference (accordingly, strong quantum confinement) effects and non-linear I-V characteristics are observed. P-N interface smoothness engineering is also considered, suggesting as a potential way to improve these transport features in graphene/h-BN devices.