Specular Andreev Reflection in Graphene

2006/04/30 by C. W. J. Beenakker · 17 citations
Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Andreev reflection #Condensed matter physics #Electron #Fermi level #Graphene #Graphene research and applications #Physics #Quantum and electron transport phenomena #Quantum mechanics #Reflection (computer programming) #Specular reflection #Superconductivity #Topological Materials and Phenomena #cond-mat.mes-hall

paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.97.067007

published as Phys. Rev. Lett. 97, 067007 (2006) · 7 pages, 6 figures; version 3: added an appendix with details of the calculation

arxiv created 2006/05/19 · openalex publication_date 2006/08/10 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05

Abstract

By combining the Dirac equation of relativistic quantum mechanics with the Bogoliubov-de Gennes equation of superconductivity we investigate the electron-hole conversion at a normal-metal-superconductor interface in graphene. We find that the Andreev reflection of Dirac fermions has several unusual features: (1) the electron and hole occupy different valleys of the band structure; (2) at normal incidence the electron-hole conversion happens with unit efficiency in spite of the large mismatch in Fermi wavelengths at the two sides of the interface; and, most fundamentally: (3) away from normal incidence the reflection angle may be the same as the angle of incidence (retroreflection) or it may be inverted (specular reflection). Specular Andreev reflection dominates in weakly doped graphene, when the Fermi wavelength in the normal region is large compared to the superconducting coherence length.

Citations

• Sub-Poissonian Shot Noise in Graphene
• Berry's Phase and Absence of Back Scattering in Carbon Nanotubes
• Band Structure of Graphite
• Multiple Andreev Reflections in a Carbon Nanotube Quantum Dot
• Zitterbewegung, chirality, and minimal conductivity in graphene

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• Limits of thermal conductance quantization in chiral topological Josephson junctions
• Charge accumulation at the boundaries of a graphene strip induced by a gate voltage: Electrostatic approach
• Andreev reflection in bilayer graphene
• Density Waves and Cooper Pairing on the Honeycomb Lattice
• Effect of nearest neighbor spin-singlet correlations in conventional graphene SNS Josephson junctions
• Magnetic field oscillations of the critical current in long ballistic graphene Josephson junctions
• Double Andreev reflections and double electron transmissions in a normal-superconductor-normal junction based on type-II Weyl semimetal
• Superconducting proximity in three-dimensional Dirac materials: Odd-frequency, pseudoscalar, pseudovector, and tensor-valued superconducting orders
• Self-consistent solution for proximity effect and Josephson current in ballistic graphene SNS Josephson junctions
• Quantum transport through a graphene nanoribbon–superconductor junction
• Evanescent Wave Transport and Shot Noise in Graphene: Ballistic Regime and Effect of Disorder
• Robust Transport Signatures of Topological Superconductivity in Topological Insulator Nanowires
• Photon-assisted electron transport in graphene: Scattering theory analysis
• Unconventional proximity-induced superconductivity in bilayer systems