Direct observation of a widely tunable bandgap in bilayer graphene
TL;DR: This work demonstrates a gate-controlled, continuously tunable bandgap of up to 250 meV and suggests novel nanoelectronic and nanophotonic device applications based on graphene that have eluded previous attempts.
Abstract: The electronic bandgap is an intrinsic property of semiconductors and insulators that largely determines their transport and optical properties. As such, it has a central role in modern device physics and technology and governs the operation of semiconductor devices such as p-n junctions, transistors, photodiodes and lasers. A tunable bandgap would be highly desirable because it would allow great flexibility in design and optimization of such devices, in particular if it could be tuned by applying a variable external electric field. However, in conventional materials, the bandgap is fixed by their crystalline structure, preventing such bandgap control. Here we demonstrate the realization of a widely tunable electronic bandgap in electrically gated bilayer graphene. Using a dual-gate bilayer graphene field-effect transistor (FET) and infrared microspectroscopy, we demonstrate a gate-controlled, continuously tunable bandgap of up to 250 meV. Our technique avoids uncontrolled chemical doping and provides direct evidence of a widely tunable bandgap-spanning a spectral range from zero to mid-infrared-that has eluded previous attempts. Combined with the remarkable electrical transport properties of such systems, this electrostatic bandgap control suggests novel nanoelectronic and nanophotonic device applications based on graphene.
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TL;DR: This work reviews the historical development of Transition metal dichalcogenides, methods for preparing atomically thin layers, their electronic and optical properties, and prospects for future advances in electronics and optoelectronics.
Abstract: Single-layer metal dichalcogenides are two-dimensional semiconductors that present strong potential for electronic and sensing applications complementary to that of graphene.
13,348 citations
TL;DR: Because monolayer MoS(2) has a direct bandgap, it can be used to construct interband tunnel FETs, which offer lower power consumption than classical transistors, and could also complement graphene in applications that require thin transparent semiconductors, such as optoelectronics and energy harvesting.
Abstract: Two-dimensional materials are attractive for use in next-generation nanoelectronic devices because, compared to one-dimensional materials, it is relatively easy to fabricate complex structures from them. The most widely studied two-dimensional material is graphene, both because of its rich physics and its high mobility. However, pristine graphene does not have a bandgap, a property that is essential for many applications, including transistors. Engineering a graphene bandgap increases fabrication complexity and either reduces mobilities to the level of strained silicon films or requires high voltages. Although single layers of MoS(2) have a large intrinsic bandgap of 1.8 eV (ref. 16), previously reported mobilities in the 0.5-3 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1) range are too low for practical devices. Here, we use a halfnium oxide gate dielectric to demonstrate a room-temperature single-layer MoS(2) mobility of at least 200 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1), similar to that of graphene nanoribbons, and demonstrate transistors with room-temperature current on/off ratios of 1 × 10(8) and ultralow standby power dissipation. Because monolayer MoS(2) has a direct bandgap, it can be used to construct interband tunnel FETs, which offer lower power consumption than classical transistors. Monolayer MoS(2) could also complement graphene in applications that require thin transparent semiconductors, such as optoelectronics and energy harvesting.
12,477 citations
Additional excerpts
...Bandgaps have also been induced by applying a perpendicular electric field in bilayer graphen...
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TL;DR: An overview of the synthesis, properties, and applications of graphene and related materials (primarily, graphite oxide and its colloidal suspensions and materials made from them), from a materials science perspective.
Abstract: There is intense interest in graphene in fields such as physics, chemistry, and materials science, among others. Interest in graphene's exceptional physical properties, chemical tunability, and potential for applications has generated thousands of publications and an accelerating pace of research, making review of such research timely. Here is an overview of the synthesis, properties, and applications of graphene and related materials (primarily, graphite oxide and its colloidal suspensions and materials made from them), from a materials science perspective.
8,919 citations
TL;DR: Graphene and its derivatives are being studied in nearly every field of science and engineering as mentioned in this paper, and recent progress has shown that the graphene-based materials can have a profound impact on electronic and optoelectronic devices, chemical sensors, nanocomposites and energy storage.
3,118 citations
Cites background or methods from "Direct observation of a widely tuna..."
...Top gated graphene-based MOSFETs have been prepared using exfoliated graphene [174–177], CVD grown graphene on Ni and Cu substrate [44] and epitaxial graphene [178,179], whereas, Al2O3, SiO2 and HfO2 dielectric materials have been used for top gate [171]....
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...[124,128,168] and in graphene quantum dots [169], and by biasing bi-layer [21,170,171] graphene....
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TL;DR: In this paper, a broad review of fundamental electronic properties of two-dimensional graphene with the emphasis on density and temperature dependent carrier transport in doped or gated graphene structures is provided.
Abstract: We provide a broad review of fundamental electronic properties of two-dimensional graphene with the emphasis on density and temperature dependent carrier transport in doped or gated graphene structures. A salient feature of our review is a critical comparison between carrier transport in graphene and in two-dimensional semiconductor systems (e.g. heterostructures, quantum wells, inversion layers) so that the unique features of graphene electronic properties arising from its gap- less, massless, chiral Dirac spectrum are highlighted. Experiment and theory as well as quantum and semi-classical transport are discussed in a synergistic manner in order to provide a unified and comprehensive perspective. Although the emphasis of the review is on those aspects of graphene transport where reasonable consensus exists in the literature, open questions are discussed as well. Various physical mechanisms controlling transport are described in depth including long- range charged impurity scattering, screening, short-range defect scattering, phonon scattering, many-body effects, Klein tunneling, minimum conductivity at the Dirac point, electron-hole puddle formation, p-n junctions, localization, percolation, quantum-classical crossover, midgap states, quantum Hall effects, and other phenomena.
2,930 citations
Cites background or methods from "Direct observation of a widely tuna..."
...…external electric field perpendicular to the layers, ẑ-direction) in the electrochemical potential between the two layers, which would translate into an effective bandgap opening near the Dirac point (Castro et al., 2007; Ohta et al., 2006; Oostinga et al., 2008; Zhang et al., 2009c) Expanding Eq....
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...om STM dI=dV map. Adapted from Deshpande et al. (2009b). 60 nm 60 nm constant current STM topography, (c), and simultaneous dI=dV map, (d) at the CNP for SLG, (V bias = 0:225 VI= 20 pA). Adapted from Zhang et al. (2009b). in the Quantum Hall regime and the amplitude extracted from the probability distribution of the density extracted from the imaging results, Martin et al. (2008) obtained the upper bound of 30 nm f...
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...…occuring not only in nanoribbons but also in biased bilayer graphene where the gap measured in transport experiments appears to be substantially smaller than the theoretically calculated bandgap (Oostinga et al., 2008) or even the measured optical gap (Mak et al., 2009; Zhang et al., 2009c)....
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...twouid model) but in excellent agreement with the presence of inhomogeneously distributed electron and hole regions of equal mobility. The rst STM experiments on exfoliated graphene were performed by Zhang et al. (2009b). The STM experiments provided the most direct quantitative characterization of the carrier density distribution of exfoliated graphene. Fig. 32 (c) shows the topography of a 60 hn60 nm2 area of exf...
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...ac fermions. Second, the opening of an intrinsic spectral gap in the graphene band structure by using graphene nanoribbons (Adam et al., 2008a; Han et al., 2007) or biased BLG (Oostinga et al., 2008; Zhang et al., 2009c) immediately introduces an insulating phase around the charge neutrality point. These two features indicate that the insulating behavior in graphene and 2D semiconductors is connected more with the ...
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References
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TL;DR: Owing to its unusual electronic spectrum, graphene has led to the emergence of a new paradigm of 'relativistic' condensed-matter physics, where quantum relativistic phenomena can now be mimicked and tested in table-top experiments.
Abstract: Graphene is a rapidly rising star on the horizon of materials science and condensed-matter physics. This strictly two-dimensional material exhibits exceptionally high crystal and electronic quality, and, despite its short history, has already revealed a cornucopia of new physics and potential applications, which are briefly discussed here. Whereas one can be certain of the realness of applications only when commercial products appear, graphene no longer requires any further proof of its importance in terms of fundamental physics. Owing to its unusual electronic spectrum, graphene has led to the emergence of a new paradigm of 'relativistic' condensed-matter physics, where quantum relativistic phenomena, some of which are unobservable in high-energy physics, can now be mimicked and tested in table-top experiments. More generally, graphene represents a conceptually new class of materials that are only one atom thick, and, on this basis, offers new inroads into low-dimensional physics that has never ceased to surprise and continues to provide a fertile ground for applications.
35,293 citations
TL;DR: This study reports an experimental study of a condensed-matter system (graphene, a single atomic layer of carbon) in which electron transport is essentially governed by Dirac's (relativistic) equation and reveals a variety of unusual phenomena that are characteristic of two-dimensional Dirac fermions.
Abstract: Quantum electrodynamics (resulting from the merger of quantum mechanics and relativity theory) has provided a clear understanding of phenomena ranging from particle physics to cosmology and from astrophysics to quantum chemistry. The ideas underlying quantum electrodynamics also influence the theory of condensed matter, but quantum relativistic effects are usually minute in the known experimental systems that can be described accurately by the non-relativistic Schrodinger equation. Here we report an experimental study of a condensed-matter system (graphene, a single atomic layer of carbon) in which electron transport is essentially governed by Dirac's (relativistic) equation. The charge carriers in graphene mimic relativistic particles with zero rest mass and have an effective 'speed of light' c* approximately 10(6) m s(-1). Our study reveals a variety of unusual phenomena that are characteristic of two-dimensional Dirac fermions. In particular we have observed the following: first, graphene's conductivity never falls below a minimum value corresponding to the quantum unit of conductance, even when concentrations of charge carriers tend to zero; second, the integer quantum Hall effect in graphene is anomalous in that it occurs at half-integer filling factors; and third, the cyclotron mass m(c) of massless carriers in graphene is described by E = m(c)c*2. This two-dimensional system is not only interesting in itself but also allows access to the subtle and rich physics of quantum electrodynamics in a bench-top experiment.
18,958 citations
14,205 citations
TL;DR: This work shows that graphene's electronic structure is captured in its Raman spectrum that clearly evolves with the number of layers, and allows unambiguous, high-throughput, nondestructive identification of graphene layers, which is critically lacking in this emerging research area.
Abstract: Graphene is the two-dimensional building block for carbon allotropes of every other dimensionality We show that its electronic structure is captured in its Raman spectrum that clearly evolves with the number of layers The D peak second order changes in shape, width, and position for an increasing number of layers, reflecting the change in the electron bands via a double resonant Raman process The G peak slightly down-shifts This allows unambiguous, high-throughput, nondestructive identification of graphene layers, which is critically lacking in this emerging research area
13,474 citations