Stabilizing topological phases in graphene via random adsorption

Phys Rev Lett. 2012 Sep 14;109(11):116803. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.109.116803. Epub 2012 Sep 11.

Abstract

We study the possibility of realizing topological phases in graphene with randomly distributed adsorbates. When graphene is subjected to periodically distributed adatoms, the enhanced spin-orbit couplings can result in various topological phases. However, at certain adatom coverages, the intervalley scattering renders the system a trivial insulator. By employing a finite-size scaling approach and Landauer-Büttiker formula, we show that the randomization of adatom distribution greatly weakens the intervalley scattering, but plays a negligible role in spin-orbit couplings. Consequently, such a randomization turns graphene from a trivial insulator into a topological state.