A light-controllable topological transistor based on quantum tunneling of anomalous topological edge states

Abstract

Motivated by the recent observation of anomalous Hall effects in graphene [Nat. Phys. 16, 38–41 (2020)], we study the tunneling transport properties of topological edge states in irradiated graphene and graphene-like materials. We investigate the quantum tunneling transport in a structure: laser-irradiated graphene/gapped graphene/laser-irradiated graphene. We find that electrons cannot transport through the device because of the band gap, but electrons will tunnel through the device when anomalous topological edge states are induced by a laser. We predict a topological transistor based on the tunneling transport of topological edge states in irradiated graphene-like materials.