No Arabic abstract
We present results of non-local and three terminal (3T) spin precession measurements on spin injection devices fabricated on epitaxial graphene on SiC. The measurements were performed before and after an annealing step at 150 degrees Celsius for 15 minutes in vacuum. The values of spin relaxation length L_s and spin relaxation time tau_s obtained after annealing are reduced by a factor 2 and 4, respectively, compared to those before annealing. An apparent discrepancy between spin diffusion constant D_s and charge diffusion constant D_c can be resolved by investigating the temperature dependence of the g-factor, which is consistent with a model for paramagnetic magnetic moments.
Effects of annealing on chemical vapor deposited graphene are investigated via a weak localization magnetoresistance measurement. Annealing at SI{300}{celsius} in inert gases, a common cleaning procedure for graphene devices, is found to raise the dephasing rate significantly above the rate from electron-electron interactions, which would otherwise be expected to dominate dephasing at 4 K and below. This extra dephasing is apparently induced by local magnetic moments activated by the annealing process, and depends strongly on the backgate voltage applied.
We investigate the magneto-transport properties of epitaxial graphene single-layer on 4H-SiC(0001), grown by atmospheric pressure graphitization in Ar, followed by H2 intercalation. We directly demonstrate the importance of saturating the Si dangling bonds at the graphene/SiC(0001) interface to achieve high carrier mobility. Upon successful Si dangling bonds elimination, carrier mobility increases from 3 000 cm^2/Vs to > 11 000 cm^2/Vs at 0.3 K. Additionally, graphene electron concentration tends to decrease from a few 10^12 cm^-2 to less than 10^12 cm^-2. For a typical large (30x280 um^2) Hall bar, we report the observation of the integer quantum Hall states at 0.3 K with well developed transversal resistance plateaus at Landau level fillings factors of nu = 2, 6, 10, 14.. 42 and Shubnikov de Haas oscillation of the longitudinal resistivity observed from about 1 T. In such a device, the Hall state quantization at nu=2, at 19 T and 0.3 K, can be very robust: the dissipation in electronic transport can stay very low, with the longitudinal resistivity lower than 5 mOhm, for measurement currents as high as 250 uA. This is very promising in the view of an application in metrology.
Monolayer epitaxial graphene (EG) grown on hexagonal Si-terminated SiC substrates is intrinsically electron-doped (carrier density is about 10^13 cm^(-2)). We demonstrate a clean device fabrication process using a precious-metal protective layer, and show that etching with aqua regia results in p-type (hole) molecular doping of our un-gated, contamination-free EG. Devices fabricated by this simple process can reach a carrier density in the range of 10^10 cm^(-2) to 10^11 cm^(-2) with mobility about 8000 cm^2/V/s or higher. In a moderately doped device with a carrier density n = 2.4 x 10^11 cm^(-2) and mobility = 5200 cm^2/V/s, we observe highly developed quantized Hall resistance plateaus with filing factor of 2 at magnetic field strengths of less than 4 T. Doping concentrations can be restored to higher levels by heat treatment in Ar, while devices with both p-type and n-type majority carriers tend to drift toward lower carrier concentrations in ambient air.
We present electronic structure calculations of few-layer epitaxial graphene nanoribbons on SiC(0001). Trough an atomistic description of the graphene layers and the substrate within the extended H{u}ckel Theory and real/momentum space projections we argue that the role of the heterostructures interface becomes crucial for the conducting capacity of the studied systems. The key issue arising from this interaction is a Fermi level pinning effect introduced by dangling interface bonds. Such phenomenon is independent from the width of the considered nanostructures, compromising the importance of confinement in these systems.
Spin information processing is a possible new paradigm for post-CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor) electronics and efficient spin propagation over long distances is fundamental to this vision. However, despite several decades of intense research, a suitable platform is still wanting. We report here on highly efficient spin transport in two-terminal polarizer/analyser devices based on high-mobility epitaxial graphene grown on silicon carbide. Taking advantage of high-impedance injecting/detecting tunnel junctions, we show spin transport efficiencies up to 75%, spin signals in the mega-ohm range and spin diffusion lengths exceeding 100 {mu}m. This enables spintronics in complex structures: devices and network architectures relying on spin information processing, well beyond present spintronics applications, can now be foreseen.