The conductivity of pure graphene

ORAL

Abstract

Pure graphene, in the absence of impurities or bias voltage, is described by a theory of Dirac fermions with Coulomb interactions. We argue that this theory has a finite conductivity, $\sigma$, and show that at frequencies $\omega \ll k_B T/\hbar$ (where $T$ is absolute temperature) $\sigma = \Xi (e^2/h) (\ln (W/T))^2 $, where $W$ is the bandwidth, and $\Xi$ is a {\em universal} number. We compute $\Xi$ by the solution of a quantum Boltzmann equation. The influence of a dilute concentration of impurities and finite bias voltage is also discussed.

Authors

  • Subir Sachdev

    Harvard University

  • Lars Fritz

    Harvard University

  • Joerg Schmalian

    Ames Laboratory and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Iowa State University, AmesLab/Dept. of Physics, ISU, Ames Lab and Iowa State University, Ames Laboratory, Iowa State University, Iowa State University, Iowa State University and Ames Lab