Current oscillation of snake states in graphene p-n junction

Snake states in a six-terminal graphene p-n junction are investigated under a perpendicular magnetic field. The current oscillation with varying magnetic field appears due to the presence of snake states at the p-n interface. At a fixed magnetic field, the periodic properties of currents with respect to the geometric structures, such as the graphene ribbon width and the location of the incident terminal, are also shown. We extract the values of the width and the location corresponding to the maximums of the current and plot them versus their sequence number. They form a straight line, which shows that the oscillation is periodic. The periods decrease with increasing magnetic field. The order of magnitude of periods and their tendencies with varying a magnetic field are consistent with those predicted from semiclassical motions. Finally, for a smooth potential, the snake states still survive and the oscillation phase and the oscillation period with respect to the location of the incident terminal are almost unchanged, but the period with respect to the width of the ribbon is reduced.