84 research outputs found
A method to extract pure Raman spectrum of epitaxial graphene on SiC
A method is proposed to extract pure Raman spectrum of epitaxial graphene on
SiC by using a Non-negative Matrix Factorization. It overcomes problems of
negative spectral intensity and poorly resolved spectra resulting from a simple
subtraction of a SiC background from the experimental data. We also show that
the method is similar to deconvolution, for spectra composed of multiple sub-
micrometer areas, with the advantage that no prior information on the impulse
response functions is needed. We have used this property to characterize the
Raman laser beam. The method capability in efficient data smoothing is also
demonstrated.Comment: 3 figures, regular pape
Magnetic Enhancement in Cobalt-Manganese Alloy Clusters
Magnetic moments of CoNMnM and CoNVM clusters (N ≤ 60; M ≤ N/3) are measured in molecular beams using the Stern-Gerlach deflection method. Surprisingly, the per atom average moments of CoNMnM clusters are found to increase with Mn concentration, in contrast to bulk CoMn. The enhancement with Mn doping is found to be independent of cluster size and composition in the size range studied. Meanwhile, CoNVM clusters show reduction of average moments with increasing V doping, consistent with what is expected in bulk CoV. The results are discussed within the virtual bound states model
Observation of Resistively Detected Hole Spin Resonance and Zero-Field Pseudo-Spin Splitting in Epitaxial Graphene
Electronic carriers in graphene show a high carrier mobility at room temperature. Thus, this system is widely viewed as a potential future charge-based high-speed electronic material to complement–or replace–silicon. At the same time, the spin properties of graphene have suggested improved capability for spin-based electronics or spintronics and spin-based quantum computing. As a result, the detection, characterization and transport of spin have become topics of interest in graphene. Here we report a microwave photo-excited transport study of monolayer and trilayer graphene that reveals an unexpectedly strong microwave-induced electrical response and dual microwave-induced resonances in the dc resistance. The results suggest the resistive detection of spin resonance, and provide a measurement of the g-factor, the spin relaxation time and the sub-lattice degeneracy splitting at zero magnetic field
SU(4) symmetry breaking revealed by magneto-optical spectroscopy in epitaxial graphene
Refined infrared magnetotransmission experiments have been performed in
magnetic fields B up to 35 T on a series of multilayer epitaxial graphene
samples. Following the main optical transition involving the n=0 Landau level
(LL), we observe a new absorption transition increasing in intensity with
magnetic fields B>26 T. Our analysis shows that this is a signature of the
breaking of the SU(4) symmetry of the n=0 LL. Using a quantitative model, we
show that the only symmetry-breaking scheme consistent with our experiments is
a charge density wave (CDW)
Probing terahertz surface plasmon waves in graphene structures
Epitaxial graphene mesas and ribbons are investigated using terahertz (THz)
nearfield microscopy to probe surface plasmon excitation and THz transmission
properties on the sub-wavelength scale. The THz near-field images show
variation of graphene properties on a scale smaller than the wavelength, and
excitation of THz surface waves occurring at graphene edges, similar to that
observed at metallic edges. The Fresnel reflection at the substrate SiC/air
interface is also found to be altered by the presence of graphene ribbon
arrays, leading to either reduced or enhanced transmission of the THz wave
depending on the wave polarization and the ribbon width.Comment: accepted for publication in Applied Physics Lette
Approaching the Dirac point in high mobility multi-layer epitaxial graphene
Multi-layer epitaxial graphene (MEG) is investigated using far infrared (FIR)
transmission experiments in the different limits of low magnetic fields and
high temperatures. The cyclotron-resonance like absorption is observed at low
temperature in magnetic fields below 50 mT, allowing thus to probe the nearest
vicinity of the Dirac point and to estimate the conductivity in nearly undoped
graphene. The carrier mobility is found to exceed 250,000 cm/(V.s). In the
limit of high temperatures, the well-defined Landau level (LL) quantization is
observed up to room temperature at magnetic fields below 1 T, a phenomenon
unique in solid state systems. A negligible increase in the width of the
cyclotron resonance lines with increasing temperature indicates that no
important scattering mechanism is thermally activated, supporting recent
expectations of high room-temperature mobilities in graphene.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
Anisotropy of excitation and relaxation of photogenerated Dirac electrons in graphene
We investigate the polarization dependence of the carrier excitation and
relaxation in epitaxial multilayer graphene. Degenerate pump-probe experiments
with a temporal resolution of 30 fs are performed for different rotation angles
of the pump-pulse polarization with respect to the polarization of the probe
pulse. A pronounced dependence of the pump-induced transmission on this angle
is found. It reflects a strong anisotropy of the pump-induced occupation of
photogenerated carriers in momentum space even though the band structure is
isotropic. Within 150 fs after excitation an isotropic carrier distribution is
established. Our observations imply the predominant role of collinear
scattering preserving the initially optically generated anisotropy in the
carrier distribution. The experiments are well described by microscopic time-,
momentum, and angle-resolved modelling, which allows us to unambiguously
identify non-collinear carrier-phonon scattering to be the main relaxation
mechanism giving rise to an isotropic distribution in the first hundred fs
after optical excitation.Comment: Submitted to Nano Letter
Symmetry-breaking supercollisions in Landau-quantized graphene
Recent pump-probe experiments performed on graphene in a perpendicular
magnetic field have revealed carrier relaxation times ranging from picoseconds
to nanoseconds depending on the quality of the sample. To explain this
surprising behavior, we propose a novel symmetry-breaking defect-assisted
relaxation channel. This enables scattering of electrons with single
out-of-plane phonons, which drastically accelerate the carrier scattering time
in low-quality samples. The gained insights provide a strategy for tuning the
carrier relaxation time in graphene and related materials by orders of
magnitude
Ultrahard carbon film from epitaxial two-layer graphene
Atomically thin graphene exhibits fascinating mechanical properties, although
its hardness and transverse stiffness are inferior to those of diamond. To
date, there hasn't been any practical demonstration of the transformation of
multi-layer graphene into diamond-like ultra-hard structures. Here we show that
at room temperature and after nano-indentation, two-layer graphene on SiC(0001)
exhibits a transverse stiffness and hardness comparable to diamond, resisting
to perforation with a diamond indenter, and showing a reversible drop in
electrical conductivity upon indentation. Density functional theory
calculations suggest that upon compression, the two-layer graphene film
transforms into a diamond-like film, producing both elastic deformations and
sp2-to-sp3 chemical changes. Experiments and calculations show that this
reversible phase change is not observed for a single buffer layer on SiC or
graphene films thicker than 3 to 5 layers. Indeed, calculations show that
whereas in two-layer graphene layer-stacking configuration controls the
conformation of the diamond-like film, in a multilayer film it hinders the
phase transformation.Comment: Published online on Nature Nanotechnology on December 18, 201
Nanoscale tunable reduction of graphene oxide for graphene electronics
International audienceGraphene is now recognized as the most likely carbon-based successor material for CMOS electronics. Recently, interest in graphene oxide (GO) has risen for producing large-scale flexible conductors and for its potential to open an electronic gap in graphene structures. We report on a means to tune the topographical and electrical properties of graphene-based materials with nanoscopic resolution by local thermal reduction of GO with a nano-size tip. The reduced GO nanostructures show an increase in conductivity up to four orders of magnitude as compared to pristine GO. No sign of tip wear or sample tearing was observed. Variably conductive nanoribbons with dimensions down to 12 nm have been produced in oxidized epitaxial graphene films in a single step that is clean, rapid and reliable
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