Revealing the atomic structure of the buffer layer between SiC(0001) and epitaxial graphene
Sarah Goler, Camilla Coletti, Vincenzo Piazza, Pasqualantonio Pingue, Francesco Colangelo, Vittorio Pellegrini, Konstantin V. Emtsev, Stiven Forti, Ulrich Stark… 展开作者
Sarah Goler, Camilla Coletti, Vincenzo Piazza, Pasqualantonio Pingue, Francesco Colangelo, Vittorio Pellegrini, Konstantin V. Emtsev, Stiven Forti, Ulrich Starke, Fabio Beltram, Stefan Heun
On the SiC(0001) surface (the silicon face of SiC), epitaxial graphene is obtained by sublimation of Si from the substrate. The graphene film is separated from the bulk by a carbon-rich interface layer (hereafter called the buffer layer) which in part covalently binds to the substrate. Its structural and electronic properties are currently under debate. In the present work we report scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) studies of the buffer layer and of quasi-free-standing monolayer graphene (QFMLG) that is obtained by decoupling the buffer layer from the SiC(0001) substrate by means of hydrogen intercalation. Atomic resolution STM images of the buffer layer reveal that, within the periodic structural corrugation of this interfacial layer, the arrangement of atoms is topologically identical to that of graphene. After hydrogen intercalation, we show that the resulting QFMLG is relieved from the periodic corrugation and presents no detectable defect sites.
Epitaxial graphene grown on SiC by the confinement controlled sublimation method is reviewed, with an emphasis on multilayer and monolayer epitaxial graphene on the carbon face of 4H-SiC and on directed and selectively grown structures under growth-arresting or growth-enhancing masks. Recent developments in the growth of templated graphene nanostructures are also presented, as exemplified by tens of micron long very well confined and isolated 20-40nm wide graphene ribbons. Scheme for large scale integration of ribbon arrays with Si wafer is also presented.
We determine conditions for the formation of compressible stripes near the quantum Hall effect (QHE) edges of top-gated epitaxial graphene on Si-terminated SiC (G/SiC) and compare those to graphene exfoliated onto insulating substrate in the field-effect-transistor (GraFET) geometry. For G/SiC, a large density of localised surface states on SiC just underneath graphene layer and charge transfer between them lead both to doping of graphene and to screening of potential profile near its edge. This suppresses formation of compressible stripes near QHE edges in graphene, making them much narrower …
X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) reveal the magnetic properties of intercalated europium metal under graphene on SiC(0001). Intercalation of Eu nano-clusters (average size 2.5 nm) between graphene and SiC substate are formed by deposition of Eu on epitaxially grown graphene that is subsequently annealed at various temperatures while keeping the integrity of the graphene layer. Using sum-rules analysis of the XMCD of Eu M$_{4,5}$ edges at $T = 15$ K, our samples show paramagnetic-like behavior with distinct anomaly at T $\approx$ 90 K which may be related to the N{è}el transition, T$_N$…
We study electron transport in nanostructures patterned in bilayer graphene patches grown epitaxially on SiC as a function of doping, magnetic field, and temperature. Away from charge neutrality transport is only weakly modulated by changes in carrier concentration induced by a local side-gate. At low n-type doping close to charge neutrality, electron transport resembles that in exfoliated graphene nanoribbons and is well described by tunnelling of single electrons through a network of Coulomb-blockaded islands. Under the influence of an external magnetic field, Coulomb blockade resonances flu…
Quantum-Hall plateau-plateau transition in top-gated epitaxial graphene grown on SiC (0001)
研究了在半绝缘4 H-SiC衬底的Si面上通过高温升华法制备的单层外延石墨烯薄膜的低温磁输运性质。通过插入完全氧化的纳米薄铝膜作为种子层,随后进行原子层沉积工艺,在外延石墨烯上实现高k顶栅。在低温下,器件表现出强场效应的顶栅与开/关比约为7和电子迁移率高达~3250 cm ^2/Vs的半整数量子霍尔效应的单层外延石墨烯薄膜的观察后,详细的磁输运测量已进行,包括不同的密度,温度,磁场和电流。我们研究了当温度和电流变化时,可分辨的量子霍尔平台到平台跃迁(朗道能级指数n=0到n=1)的宽度。对于栅极电压和磁场扫描以及T>10 K,转变宽度为T^{-κ},指数κ~0.42。这种普遍的标度指数与在具有短程合金无序的III-V异质结和剥离的石墨烯中发现的标度指数一致。
We propose a table-top method to obtain bilayer quasi-free-standing epitaxial-graphene (QFSEG) on SiC(0001). By applying a microwave annealing in air to a monolayer epitaxial graphene (EG) grown on SiC(0001), the buffer layer is decoupled from the SiC substrate and becomes the second EG layer as confirmed by the low energy electron diffraction, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, Raman scattering spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy. The most likely mechanism of the decoupling is given by the oxidation of the SiC surface, w…
Low Carrier Density Epitaxial Graphene Devices On SiC
在六方Si端SiC衬底上生长的单层外延石墨烯(EG)本质上是电子掺杂的(载流子密度约为10^13 cm^(-2))。我们展示了一个干净的设备制造过程中使用的贵金属保护层,并表明,与王水蚀刻的结果在p型(空穴)分子掺杂我们的非门控,无污染的EG。通过这种简单的工艺制造的器件可以达到10^10 cm^(-2)到10^11 cm^(-2)的载流子密度,迁移率约为8000 cm ^2/V/s或更高。在载流子密度n = 2.4 x 10^11 cm^(-2)、迁移率= 5200 cm ^2/V/s的中度掺杂器件中,我们观察到高度发达的量子化霍尔电阻平台,在磁场强度小于4 T时填充因子为2。掺杂浓度可以通过在Ar中的热处理恢复到更高的水平,而具有p型和n型多数载流子的器件在环境空气中倾向于向较低的载流子浓度漂移。
Monolayer graphene epitaxially grown on SiC(0001) was etched by H-plasma and studied by scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy. The etching created partly hexagonal nanopits of monatomic depth as well as elevated regions with a height of about 0.12 nm which are stable at $T$ = 78 K. The symmetric tunnel spectrum about the Femi energy and the absence of a $6\times6$ corrugation on the elevated regions suggest that in these regions the carbon buffer layer is decoupled from the SiC substrate and quasi-free-standing bilayer graphene appears at originally monolayer graphene on the buffer la…
We present a systematical study via scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and low-energy electron diffraction (LEED) on the effect of the exposure of Lithium (Li) on graphene on silicon carbide (SiC). We have investigated Li deposition both on epitaxial monolayer graphene and on buffer layer surfaces on the Si-face of SiC. At room temperature, Li immediately intercalates at the interface between the SiC substrate and the buffer layer and transforms the buffer layer into a quasi-free-standing graphene. This conclusion is substantiated by LEED and STM evidence. We show that intercalation occurs th…
We found an intrinsic redistribution of charge arises between epitaxial graphene, which has intrinsically n-type doping, and an undoped substrate. In particular, we studied in detail epitaxial graphene layers thermally elaborated on C-terminated $4H$-$SiC$ ($4H$-$SiC$ ($000{\bar{1}}$)). We have investigated the charge distribution in graphene-substrate systems using Raman spectroscopy. The influence of the substrate plasmons on the longitudinal optical phonons of the $SiC$ substrates has been detected. The associated charge redistribution reveals the formation of a capacitance between the grap…
Generally, it is supposed that the Fermi level in epitaxial graphene is controlled by two effects: p-type polarization doping induced by the bulk of the hexagonal SiC(0001) substrate and overcompensation by donor-like states related to the buffer layer. In this work, we evidence that this effect is also related to the specific underlying SiC terrace. We fabricated a periodic sequence of non-identical SiC terraces, which are unambiguously attributed to specific SiC surface terminations. A clear correlation between the SiC termination and the electronic graphene properties is experimentally obse…
Monolayer-thick hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) is grown on graphene on SiC(0001), by exposure of the graphene to borazine, (BH)3(NH)3, at 1100 C. The h-BN films form ~2-micrometer size grains with a preferred orientation of 30 degrees relative to the surface graphene. Low-energy electron microscopy is employed to provide definitive signatures of the number and composition of two-dimensional (2D) planes across the surface. These grains are found to form by substitution for the surface graphene, with the C atoms produced by this substitution then being incorporated below the h-BN (at the interfa…