No Arabic abstract
We show how the weak field magneto-conductance can be used as a tool to characterize epitaxial graphene samples grown from the C or the Si face of Silicon Carbide, with mobilities ranging from 120 to 12000 cm^2/(V.s). Depending on the growth conditions, we observe anti-localization and/or localization which can be understood in term of weak-localization related to quantum interferences. The inferred characteristic diffusion lengths are in agreement with the scanning tunneling microscopy and the theoretical model which describe the pure mono-layer and bilayer of graphene [MacCann et al,. Phys. Rev. Lett. 97, 146805 (2006)].
Low-field magnetoresistance is ubiquitous in low-dimensional metallic systems with high resistivity and well understood as arising due to quantum interference on self-intersecting diffusive trajectories. We have found that in graphene this weak-localization magnetoresistance is strongly suppressed and, in some cases, completely absent. This unexpected observation is attributed to mesoscopic corrugations of graphene sheets which cause a dephasing effect similar to that of a random magnetic field.
Weak localization in graphene is studied as a function of carrier density in the range from 1 x $10^{11}$,cm$^{-2}$ to 1.43 x $10^{13}$,cm$^{-2}$ using devices produced by epitaxial growth onto SiC and CVD growth on thin metal film. The magnetic field dependent weak localization is found to be well fitted by theory, which is then used to analyse the dependence of the scattering lengths L$_varphi$, L$_i$, and L$_*$ on carrier density. We find no significant carrier dependence for L$_varphi$, a weak decrease for L$_i$ with increasing carrier density just beyond a large standard error, and a n$^{-frac{1}{4}}$ dependence for L$_*$. We demonstrate that currents as low as 0.01,nA are required in smaller devices to avoid hot-electron artefacts in measurements of the quantum corrections to conductivity.
Graphene multilayers are grown epitaxially on single crystal silicon carbide. This system is composed of several graphene layers of which the first layer is electron doped due to the built-in electric field and the other layers are essentially undoped. Unlike graphite the charge carriers show Dirac particle properties (i.e. an anomalous Berrys phase, weak anti-localization and square root field dependence of the Landau level energies). Epitaxial graphene shows quasi-ballistic transport and long coherence lengths; properties which may persists above cryogenic temperatures. Paradoxically, in contrast to exfoliated graphene, the quantum Hall effect is not observed in high mobility epitaxial graphene. It appears that the effect is suppressed due to absence of localized states in the bulk of the material.Epitaxial graphene can be patterned using standard lithography methods and characterized using a wide array of techniques. These favorable features indicate that interconnected room temperature ballistic devices may be feasible for low dissipation high-speed nanoelectronics.
Graphene has been predicted to develop a magnetic moment by proximity effect when placed on a ferromagnetic film, a promise that could open exciting possibilities in the fields of spintronics and magnetic data recording. In this work, we study in detail the interplay between the magnetoresistance of graphene and the magnetization of an underlying ferromagnetic insulating film. A clear correlation between both magnitudes is observed but we find, through a careful modelling of the magnetization and the weak localization measurements, that such correspondence can be explained by the effects of the magnetic stray fields arising from the ferromagnetic insulator. Our results emphasize the complexity arising at the interface between magnetic and two-dimensional materials.
We induce surface carrier densities up to $sim7cdot 10^{14}$cm$^{-2}$ in few-layer graphene devices by electric double layer gating with a polymeric electrolyte. In 3-, 4- and 5-layer graphene below 20-30K we observe a logarithmic upturn of resistance that we attribute to weak localization in the diffusive regime. By studying this effect as a function of carrier density and with ab-initio calculations we derive the dependence of transport, intervalley and phase coherence scattering lifetimes on total carrier density. We find that electron-electron scattering in the Nyquist regime is the main source of dephasing at temperatures lower than 30K in the $sim10^{13}$cm$^{-2}$ to $sim7 cdot 10^{14}$cm$^{-2}$ range of carrier densities. With the increase of gate voltage, transport elastic scattering is dominated by the competing effects due to the increase in both carrier density and charged scattering centers at the surface. We also tune our devices into a crossover regime between weak and strong localization, indicating that simultaneous tunability of both carrier and defect density at the surface of electric double layer gated materials is possible.