Universal quantized spin-Hall conductance fluctuation in graphene

Phys Rev Lett. 2008 Jul 4;101(1):016804. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.101.016804. Epub 2008 Jul 1.

Abstract

We report theoretical investigations of the quantized spin-Hall conductance fluctuation of graphene in the presence of disorder. Two graphene models that exhibit the quantized spin-Hall effect (QSHE) are analyzed. Model I is with unitary symmetry under an external magnetic field B not = 0 but with a zero spin-orbit interaction, t(SO)=0. Model II is with symplectic symmetry where B=0 but t(SO) not = 0. The two models give exactly the same universal QSHE conductance fluctuation value 0.285+/-0.005e/4pi regardless of symmetry. We also examined a third model that exhibits QSHE but with quadratic dispersion and obtained the same results. Finally, all three models of QSHE have a one-sided log-normal distribution for spin-Hall conductance. Our results strongly suggest that the quantized spin-Hall conductance fluctuation belongs to a new universality class.