Spatial control of laser-induced doping profiles in graphene on hexagonal boron nitride

TL;DR

This paper introduces a maskless, laser-based method to create and erase precise, long-term stable doping patterns in graphene on hBN, enabling rapid prototyping of complex electronic devices.

Contribution

The authors develop a novel optical doping technique that allows spatially resolved, rewritable doping profiles in graphene-hBN heterostructures without masks or photoresists.

Findings

Doping profiles can be created and erased with ~600 nm resolution.

The method is maskless and suitable for rapid prototyping.

Doping patterns are stable over long periods.

Abstract

We present a method to create and erase spatially resolved doping profiles in graphene-hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) heterostructures. The technique is based on photo-induced doping by a focused laser and does neither require masks nor photo resists. This makes our technique interesting for rapid prototyping of unconventional electronic device schemes, where the spatial resolution of the rewritable, long-term stable doping profiles is only limited by the laser spot size (~600 nm) and the accuracy of sample positioning. Our optical doping method offers a way to implement and to test different, complex doping patterns in one and the very same graphene device, which is not achievable with conventional gating techniques.