Heavy Dirac fermions in a graphene/topological insulator hetero-junction

The low energy physics of both graphene and surface states of three-dimensional topological insulators (TIs) is described by gapless Dirac fermions with linear dispersion. In this work, we predict the emergence of a 'heavy' Dirac fermion in a graphene/TI hetero-junction, where the linear term almost vanishes and the corresponding energy dispersion becomes highly nonlinear. By combining ab initio calculations and an effective low-energy model, we show explicitly how strong hybridization between Dirac fermions in graphene and the surface states of TIs can reduce the Fermi velocity of Dirac fermions. Due to the negligible linear term, interaction effects will be greatly enhanced and can drive 'heavy' Dirac fermion states into the half quantum Hall state with non-zero Hall conductance.