Nanofaceting as a stamp for periodic graphene charge carrier modulations

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates how nanoscale doping modulations in graphene can be achieved through a self-assembled copper faceting process during chemical vapor deposition, enabling periodic charge carrier variations at atomic precision.

Contribution

It introduces a novel method to create quasiperiodic doping patterns in graphene using self-assembled copper faceting during CVD growth.

Findings

Nanoscale doping modulations in graphene were successfully imprinted.

Copper faceting during CVD enables atomic-level interfaces between different doping levels.

Carrier density variations of several 10^13 carriers per cm^2 were achieved.

Abstract

The exceptional electronic properties of monoatomic thin graphene sheets triggered numerous original transport concepts, pushing quantum physics into the realm of device technology for electronics, optoelectronics and thermoelectrics. At the conceptual pivot point is the particular twodimensional massless Dirac fermion character of graphene charge carriers and its volitional modification by intrinsic or extrinsic means. Here, interfaces between different electronic and structural graphene modifications promise exciting physics and functionality, in particular when fabricated with atomic precision. In this study we show that quasiperiodic modulations of doping levels can be imprinted down to the nanoscale in monolayer graphene sheets. Vicinal copper surfaces allow to alternate graphene carrier densities by several 10^13 carriers per cm^2 along a specific copper high-symmetry direction. The process is triggered by a self-assembled copper faceting process during high-temperature graphene chemical vapor deposition, which defines interfaces between different graphene doping levels at the atomic level.