Weak Localization in Electric-Double-Layer Gated Few-layer Graphene

TL;DR

This study demonstrates how electric double layer gating in few-layer graphene induces high carrier densities, revealing weak localization effects and the interplay of scattering mechanisms, with tunable transition between weak and strong localization regimes.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the dependence of scattering lifetimes on carrier density and shows the tunability of localization regimes in graphene via electrostatic gating.

Findings

Observation of weak localization at low temperatures in few-layer graphene.

Dependence of scattering lifetimes on carrier density derived from experiments and calculations.

Tunable crossover between weak and strong localization regimes.

Abstract

We induce surface carrier densities up to $\sim7\cdot 10^{14}$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.