Stacking faults, bound states, and quantum Hall plateaus in crystalline graphite

Abstract

We analyze the electronic properties of a simple stacking defect in Bernal graphite. We show that a bound state forms, which disperses as ${|\mathbit{k}\ensuremath{-}\mathbit{K}|}^{3}$, in the vicinity of either of the two inequivalent zone corners $\mathbit{K}$. In the presence of a strong $c$-axis magnetic field, this bound state develops a Landau-level structure which for low energies behaves as ${E}_{n}\ensuremath{\propto}{|nB|}^{3/2}$. We show that buried stacking faults have observable consequences for surface spectroscopy, and we discuss the implications for the three-dimensional quantum Hall effect (3DQHE). We also analyze the Landau-level structure and chiral surface states of rhombohedral graphite and show that, when doped, it should exhibit multiple 3DQHE plateaus at modest fields.