- Letter
Defect bound states in the continuum of bilayer electronic materials without symmetry protection
Phys. Rev. B 111, L060101 – Published 18 February, 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.111.L060101
Abstract
We analyze a class of bound defect states in the continuum electronic spectrum of bilayer materials, which emerge independent of symmetry protection or additional degrees of freedom. Taking graphene as a prototypical example, our comparative analysis of - and -stacked bilayer graphene demonstrates that these states originate from the intrinsic algebraic structure of the tight-binding Hamiltonian when trigonal warping is neglected rather than any underlying symmetry. The inclusion of trigonal warping and higher-order hoppings broadens the bound states into long-lived resonances. This discovery provides a distinct pathway to defect and band-structure engineering. We conclude with a proposed protocol for observing these states in scanning tunneling microscopy experiments.
