Edge states versus diffusion in disordered graphene flakes

Ioannis Kleftogiannis, Ilias Amanatidis

Published 2013-03-14, updated 2014-02-20Version 3

We study the localization properties of the wavefunctions in graphene flakes with short range disorder, via the numerical calculation of the Inverse Participation Ratio($IPR$) and it scaling which provides the fractal dimension $D_{2}$. We show that the edge states which exist at the Dirac point of ballistic graphene (no disorder) with zig-zag edges survive in the presence of weak disorder with wavefunctions localized at the boundaries of the flakes. We argue, that there is a strong interplay between the underlying destructive interference mechanism of the honeycomb lattice of graphene leading to edge states and the diffusive interference mechanism introduced by the short-range disorder. This interplay results in a highly abnormal behavior, wavefunctions are becoming progressively less localized as the disorder is increased, indicated by the decrease of the average $\langle IPR\rangle$ and the increase of $D_{2}$. We verify, that this abnormal behavior is absent for graphene flakes with armchair edges which do not provide edge states.