No Arabic abstract
The interaction between graphene and metals represents an important issue for the large-area preparation of graphene, graphene transfer and the contact quality in graphene devices. We demonstrate a simple method for estimating and manipulating the level of interaction between graphene and copper single crystals through heat treatment, at temperatures from 298K to 1073K. We performed an in-situ Raman spectroscopy showing Cu face-specific behavior of the overlying graphene during the heat treatment. On Cu(111) the interaction is consistent with theoretical predictions and remains stable, whereas on Cu(100) and Cu(110), the initially very weak interaction and charge transfer can be tuned by heating. Our results also suggest that graphene grown on Cu(100) and Cu(110) is detached from the copper substrate, thereby possibly enabling an easier graphene transfer process as compared to Cu (111).
Epitaxial graphene layers were grown on the C-face of 4H- and 6H-SiC using an argon-mediated growth process. Variations in growth temperature and pressure were found to dramatically affect the morphological properties of the layers. The presence of argon during growth slowed the rate of graphene formation on the C-face and led to the observation of islanding. The similarity in the morphology of the islands and continuous films indicated that island nucleation and coalescence is the growth mechanism for C-face graphene.
Graphene is a powerful playground for studying a plethora of quantum phenomena. One of the remarkable properties of graphene arises when it is strained in particular geometries and the electrons behave as if they were under the influence of a magnetic field. Previously, these strain-induced pseudomagnetic fields have been explored on the nano- and micrometer-scale using scanning probe and transport measurements. Heteroepitaxial strain, in contrast, is a wafer-scale engineering method. Here, we show that pseudomagnetic fields can be generated in graphene through wafer-scale epitaxial growth. Shallow triangular nanoprisms in the SiC substrate generate strain-induced uniform fields of 41 T. This enables the observation of strain-induced Landau levels at room temperature, as detected by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, and confirmed by model calculations and scanning tunneling microscopy measurements. Our work demonstrates the feasibility of exploiting strain-induced quantum phases in two-dimensional Dirac materials on a wafer-scale platform, opening the field to new applications.
Disorder-induced magnetoresistance has been reported in a range of solid metals and semiconductors, however, the underlying physical mechanism is still under debate because it is difficult to experimentally control. Liquid metals, due to lack of long-range order, offers an ideal model system where many forms of disorder can be deactivated by freezing the liquid. Here we report non-saturating magnetoresistance discovered in the liquid state of three metals: Ga, Ga-In-Sn and Bi-Pb-Sn-In alloys. The giant magnetoresistance appears above the respective melting points and has a maximum of 2500% at 14 Tesla. The reduced diamagnetism in the liquid state implies that a short-mean free path of the electron, induced by the spatial distribution of the liquid structure, is a key factor. A potential technological merit of this liquidtronic magnetoresistance is that it naturally operates at higher temperatures.
We simulate the optical and electrical responses in gallium-doped graphene. Using density functional theory with a local density approximation, we simlutate the electronic band structure and show the effects of impurity doping (0-3.91%) in graphene on the electron density, refractive index, optical conductivity, and extinction coefficient for each doping percentages. Here, gallium atoms are placed randomly (using a 5-point average) throughout a 128-atom sheet of graphene. These calculations demonstrate the effects of hole doping due to direct atomic substitution, where it is found that a disruption in the electronic structure and electron density for small doping levels is due to impurity scattering of the electrons. However, the system continues to produce metallic or semi-metallic behavior with increasing doping levels. These calculations are compared to a purely theoretical 100% Ga sheet for comparison of conductivity. Furthermore, we examine the change in the electronic band structure, where the introduction of gallium electronic bands produces a shift in the electron bands and dissolves the characteristic Dirac cone within graphene, which leads to better electron mobility.
The graphene-enhanced Raman scattering of Rhodamine 6G molecules on pristine, fluorinated and 4-nitrophenyl functionalized graphene substrates was studied. The uniformity of the Raman signal enhancement was studied by making large Raman maps. The relative enhancement of the Raman signal is demonstrated to be dependent on the functional groups, which was rationalized by the different doping levels of pristine, fluorinated and 4-nitrophenyl functionalized graphene substrates. The impact of the Fermi energy of graphene and the phonon energy of the molecules was considered together for the first time in order to explain the enhancement. Such approach enables to understand the enhancement without assuming anything about the uniformity of the molecules on the graphene surface. The agreement between the theory and our measured data was further demonstrated by varying excitation energy.