Paper detail

Evidence for a Spin Phase Transition at ν=0 in Bilayer Graphene

The most celebrated property of the quantum spin Hall effect is the presence of spin-polarized counter-propagating edge states. This novel edge state configuration has also been predicted to occur in graphene when spin-split electron- and hole-like Landau levels are forced to cross at the edge of the sample. In particular, a quantum spin Hall analogue has been predicted at ν=0 in bilayer graphene if the ground state is a spin ferromagnet. Previous studies have demonstrated that the bilayer ν=0 state is an insulator in a perpendicular magnetic field, though the exact nature of this state has not been identified. Here we present measurements of the ν=0 state in a dual-gated bilayer graphene device in tilted magnetic field. The application of an in-plane magnetic field and perpendicular electric field allows us to map out a full phase diagram of the ν=0 state as a function of experimentally tunable parameters. At large in-plane magnetic field we observe a quantum phase transition to a metallic state with conductance of order 4e^2/h, consistent with predictions for the ferromagnet.