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    Sublattice polarization and filamentary superconductivity in strained graphene

    Tao Zhou*

    • Guangdong Basic Research Center of Excellence for Structure and Fundamental Interactions of Matter, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Quantum Engineering and Quantum Materials, School of Physics, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510006, China and Guangdong-Hong Kong Joint Laboratory of Quantum Matter, Frontier Research Institute for Physics, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510006, China

    • *Contact author: tzhou@scnu.edu.cn

    Phys. Rev. B 114, 024509 – Published 20 July, 2026

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/56hq-9fdl

    Abstract

    Periodic strain engineering in monolayer graphene provides a versatile platform to generate colossal pseudomagnetic fields and flat pseudo-Landau levels directly in a single atomic sheet. While the electronic topology and transport properties of the normal state in these systems have been extensively studied, the superconducting ground state in such strain-modulated landscapes remains an unexplored frontier. In this work, we investigate the superconducting phase of periodically corrugated graphene using a self-consistent Bogoliubov–de Gennes framework. We find that, contrary to the conventional expectation that a high density of states universally enhances pairing, the macroscopic superconducting coherence is significantly hindered in the flat-band regions. This limitation originates from strain-induced sublattice polarization, where the zero-energy electronic states are spatially segregated between the A and B sublattices. Such spatial disjointedness hampers the intersublattice coherence required for a robust pairing instability, effectively decoupling the high-density flat-band states from the superconducting condensate. Consequently, as the pairing interaction increases, the system undergoes a striking spatial crossover: Superconductivity sharply relocates from the flat-band regions to emerge as robust, quasi-one-dimensional filaments at the geometric nodes where local sublattice symmetry is restored. Our findings reveal that the spatial distribution of wave functions, governed by sublattice degrees of freedom, is a decisive factor in determining the superconducting properties of strain-engineered Dirac materials.

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