Mass inversion at the Lifshitz transition in monolayer graphene by diffusive, high-density, on-chip, doping

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel on-chip doping method for monolayer graphene using cesium vapor in a sealed environment, enabling high-density charge transport measurements and observation of the Lifshitz transition.

Contribution

The authors developed a diffusive, high-density doping technique compatible with transport measurements, allowing exploration of electronic phase transitions in graphene beyond previous doping limits.

Findings

Achieved electron densities over 4.7×10^{14} cm^{-2} in graphene.

Observed cyclotron mass inversion indicating the Lifshitz transition.

Demonstrated stable doping in an inert gas environment suitable for cryogenic studies.

Abstract

Experimental setups for charge transport measurements are typically not compatible with the ultra-high vacuum conditions for chemical doping, limiting the charge carrier density that can be investigated by transport methods. Field-effect methods, including dielectric gating and ionic liquid gating, achieve too low a carrier density to induce electronic phase transitions. To bridge this gap, we developed an integrated flip-chip method to dope graphene by alkali vapour in the diffusive regime, suitable for charge transport measurements at ultra-high charge carrier density. We introduce a cesium droplet into a sealed cavity filled with inert gas to dope a monolayer graphene sample by the process of cesium atom diffusion, adsorption and ionization at the graphene surface, with doping beyond an electron density of $4.7\times10^{14}~\mathrm{cm}^{-2}$ monitored by operando Hall measurement. The sealed assembly is stable against oxidation, enabling measurement of charge transport versus temperature and magnetic field. Cyclotron mass inversion is observed via the Hall effect, indicative of the change of Fermi surface geometry associated with the Liftshitz transition at the hyperbolic $M$ point of monolayer graphene. The transparent quartz substrate also functions as an optical window, enabling non-resonant Raman scattering. Our findings show that chemical doping, hitherto restricted to ultra-high vacuum, can be applied in a diffusive regime at ambient pressure in an inert gas environment and thus enable charge transport studies in standard cryogenic environments