Electronic Properties of Trilayer Graphene Systems

Trilayer graphene exhibits two principal stacking configurations—Bernal (ABA) and rhombohedral (ABC)—each conferring distinct electronic band structures and emergent behaviours. In the ABA form, semimetallic bands overlap to produce electron–hole asymmetry and a range of quantum Hall states, whereas ABC stacking supports a gate-tunable band gap and notably flat bands that enhance correlation effects. The interplay of interlayer coupling, external fields and mechanical perturbations allows fine control of charge distribution, band topology and many-body interactions. Such tunability underpins potential applications in nanoscale transistors, valleytronic devices and quantum sensors. Advances in local probing techniques have revealed spatially varying electronic landscapes, while growth and engineering methods now permit scalable production of desired stacking domains. Collectively, these developments highlight the global significance of trilayer graphene as a versatile platform for both fundamental studies of low-dimensional physics and next-generation electronic and optoelectronic technologies.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Recent studies have achieved nanoscale mapping of the ABA trilayer band structure by imaging de Haas–van Alphen quantum oscillations with a scanning superconducting quantum interference device. This approach resolves over one hundred Landau levels in low magnetic fields, reconstructing local energy bands and shear-strain-induced pseudomagnetic fields at millitesla precision. In parallel, investigations into ABC trilayers using gate-tunable Raman spectroscopy and near-field infrared nanoscopy have demonstrated exceptionally strong electron–infrared-phonon coupling in the rhombohedral form, offering new insights into superconductivity mechanisms and enabling non-destructive, high-throughput identification of stacking order. Foundational work on chemical vapour deposition growth has further shown that substrate curvature can stabilise large-area ABC domains, yielding scalable production of semiconducting trilayers with a controllable band gap that remains robust after transfer to device substrates.

Electronic Properties of Trilayer Graphene Systems publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in electronic properties of trilayer graphene systems across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Bernal stacking (ABA): A trilayer arrangement in which the middle layer is offset so that half of its atoms lie above hexagon centres in the outer layers, leading to semimetallic band overlap and electron–hole asymmetry.

Rhombohedral stacking (ABC): A sequentially shifted trilayer configuration that yields a tunable band gap and relatively flat electronic bands, enhancing correlation effects.

Landau levels: Discrete energy levels formed when charge carriers move in a perpendicular magnetic field, manifesting as quantum oscillations in transport or thermodynamic measurements.

Pseudomagnetic fields: Effective magnetic fields arising from strain or lattice deformations in graphene, which couple to charge carriers similarly to real magnetic fields but preserve time-reversal symmetry.

Electron–phonon coupling: Interaction between charge carriers and lattice vibrations, fundamental to phenomena such as superconductivity and phonon-mediated energy dissipation.

References

1. Imaging quantum oscillations and millitesla pseudomagnetic fields in graphene. Nature (2023).
2. Electron/infrared-phonon coupling in ABC trilayer graphene. Nature Communications (2024).
3. Quick identification of ABC trilayer graphene at nanoscale resolution via a near-field optical route. Materials Futures (2023).
4. Uniaxial Strain-Induced Stacking Order Change in Trilayer Graphene. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces (2024).
5. Large-area epitaxial growth of curvature-stabilized ABC trilayer graphene. Nature Communications (2020).
6. Quantum Hall Effect and Semimetallic Behavior of Dual-Gated ABA-Stacked Trilayer Graphene. Physical Review X (2012).