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Title: Localized charge carriers in graphene nanodevices

Abstract

Graphene—two-dimensional carbon—is a material with unique mechanical, optical, chemical, and electronic properties. Its use in a wide range of applications was therefore suggested. From an electronic point of view, nanostructured graphene is of great interest due to the potential opening of a band gap, applications in quantum devices, and investigations of physical phenomena. Narrow graphene stripes called “nanoribbons” show clearly different electronical transport properties than micron-sized graphene devices. The conductivity is generally reduced and around the charge neutrality point, the conductance is nearly completely suppressed. While various mechanisms can lead to this observed suppression of conductance, disordered edges resulting in localized charge carriers are likely the main cause in a large number of experiments. Localized charge carriers manifest themselves in transport experiments by the appearance of Coulomb blockade diamonds. This review focuses on the mechanisms responsible for this charge localization, on interpreting the transport details, and on discussing the consequences for physics and applications. Effects such as multiple coupled sites of localized charge, cotunneling processes, and excited states are discussed. Also, different geometries of quantum devices are compared. Finally, an outlook is provided, where open questions are addressed.

Authors:
; ; ; ; ;  [1]
  1. Solid State Physics Laboratory, ETH Zurich, 8093 Zurich (Switzerland)
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
22483211
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Applied Physics Reviews
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 2; Journal Issue: 3; Other Information: (c) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Journal ID: ISSN 1931-9401
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSICS; CHARGE CARRIERS; DIAMONDS; EQUIPMENT; EXCITED STATES; GRAPHENE; NANOSTRUCTURES; TWO-DIMENSIONAL SYSTEMS

Citation Formats

Bischoff, D., E-mail: dominikb@phys.ethz.ch, Varlet, A., Simonet, P., Eich, M., Overweg, H. C., Ihn, T., and Ensslin, K. Localized charge carriers in graphene nanodevices. United States: N. p., 2015. Web. doi:10.1063/1.4926448.
Bischoff, D., E-mail: dominikb@phys.ethz.ch, Varlet, A., Simonet, P., Eich, M., Overweg, H. C., Ihn, T., & Ensslin, K. Localized charge carriers in graphene nanodevices. United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4926448
Bischoff, D., E-mail: dominikb@phys.ethz.ch, Varlet, A., Simonet, P., Eich, M., Overweg, H. C., Ihn, T., and Ensslin, K. 2015. "Localized charge carriers in graphene nanodevices". United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4926448.
@article{osti_22483211,
title = {Localized charge carriers in graphene nanodevices},
author = {Bischoff, D., E-mail: dominikb@phys.ethz.ch and Varlet, A. and Simonet, P. and Eich, M. and Overweg, H. C. and Ihn, T. and Ensslin, K.},
abstractNote = {Graphene—two-dimensional carbon—is a material with unique mechanical, optical, chemical, and electronic properties. Its use in a wide range of applications was therefore suggested. From an electronic point of view, nanostructured graphene is of great interest due to the potential opening of a band gap, applications in quantum devices, and investigations of physical phenomena. Narrow graphene stripes called “nanoribbons” show clearly different electronical transport properties than micron-sized graphene devices. The conductivity is generally reduced and around the charge neutrality point, the conductance is nearly completely suppressed. While various mechanisms can lead to this observed suppression of conductance, disordered edges resulting in localized charge carriers are likely the main cause in a large number of experiments. Localized charge carriers manifest themselves in transport experiments by the appearance of Coulomb blockade diamonds. This review focuses on the mechanisms responsible for this charge localization, on interpreting the transport details, and on discussing the consequences for physics and applications. Effects such as multiple coupled sites of localized charge, cotunneling processes, and excited states are discussed. Also, different geometries of quantum devices are compared. Finally, an outlook is provided, where open questions are addressed.},
doi = {10.1063/1.4926448},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/22483211}, journal = {Applied Physics Reviews},
issn = {1931-9401},
number = 3,
volume = 2,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue Sep 15 00:00:00 EDT 2015},
month = {Tue Sep 15 00:00:00 EDT 2015}
}