Topologically confined states at corrugations of gated bilayer graphene

We investigate the electronic and transport properties of gated bilayer graphene with one corrugated layer, which results in a stacking AB/BA boundary. When a gate voltage is applied to one layer, topologically protected gap states appear at the corrugation, which reveal as robust transport channels along the stacking boundary. With increasing size of the corrugation, more localized, quantum-well-like states emerge. These finite-size states are likewise conductive along the fold, but in contrast to the stacking boundary states, which are gapless, they present a gap. Additionally, we have studied periodic corrugations in bilayer graphene; our findings show that such corrugations between ABand BA-stacked regions also behave as conducting channels in the direction of the folds. These topological states could be easily identified due to the spatial shape of the corrugations.