17 research outputs found
Experimental Study of the Intrinsic and Extrinsic Transport Properties of Graphite and Multigraphene Samples
This work deals with the intrinsic and extrinsic properties of the graphene
layers inside the graphite structure, in particular the influence of defects
and interfaces. We discuss the evidence for ballistic transport found in
mesoscopic graphite samples and the possibility to obtain the intrinsic carrier
density of graphite, without the need of free parameters or arbitrary
assumptions. The influence of internal interfaces on the transport properties
of bulk graphite is described in detail. We show that in specially prepared
multigraphene samples the transport properties show clear signs for the
existence of granular superconductivity within the graphite interfaces. We
argue that the superconducting-insulator or metal-insulator transition (MIT)
reported in the literature for bulk graphite is not intrinsic of the graphite
structure but it is due to the influence of these interfaces. Current-Voltage
characteristics curves reveal Josephson-like behavior at the interfaces with
superconducting critical temperatures above 150K.Comment: 26 pages, 15 figures. To be published in "Graphene, Book 2" by
Intech, Open Access Publisher 2011, ISBN: 979-953-307-180-
Ballistic transport at room temperature in micrometer size multigraphene
The intrinsic values of the carriers mobility and density of the graphene
layers inside graphite, the well known structure built on these layers in the
Bernal stacking configuration, are not well known mainly because most of the
research was done in rather bulk samples where lattice defects hide their
intrinsic values. By measuring the electrical resistance through
microfabricated constrictions in micrometer small graphite flakes of a few tens
of nanometers thickness we studied the ballistic behavior of the carriers. We
found that the carriers' mean free path is micrometer large with a mobility
cm/Vs and a carrier density cm per graphene layer at room temperature. These distinctive
transport and ballistic properties have important implications for
understanding the values obtained in single graphene and in graphite as well as
for implementing this last in nanoelectronic devices.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figure
Length dependence of the resistance in graphite: Influence of ballistic transport
Using a linear array of voltage electrodes with a separation of several
micrometers on a nm thick and 30 m long multigraphene sample we show
that the measured resistance does not follow the usual length dependence
according to Ohm's law. The deviations can be quantitatively explained taking
into account Sharvin-Knudsen formula for ballistic transport. This allows us to
obtain without free parameters the mean free path of the carriers in the sample
at different temperatures. In agreement with recently reported values obtained
with a different experimental method, we obtain that the carrier mean free path
is of the order of m with a mobility cmVs. The results indicate that the usual Ohm's law is not
adequate to calculate the absolute resistivity of mesoscopic graphite samples.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, in press in Journal of Applied Physics (2012
Enhancement of the ferromagnetic order of graphite after sulphuric acid treatment
We have studied the changes in the ferromagnetic behavior of graphite powder
and graphite flakes after treatment with diluted sulphuric acid. We show that
this kind of acid treatment enhances substantially the ferromagnetic
magnetization of virgin graphite micrometer size powder as well as in graphite
flakes. The anisotropic magnetoresistance (AMR) amplitude at 300 K measured in
a micrometer size thin graphite flake after acid treatment reaches values
comparable to polycrystalline cobalt.Comment: 3.2 pages, 4 figure
Changes in the electrical transport of ZnO under visible light
Complex impedance spectroscopy data in the frequency range 16Hz < f < 3 MHz
at room temperature were acquired on pure ZnO single crystal and thin film. The
measured impedance of the ZnO samples shows large changes with time after
exposure to or covering them from visible light. At fixed times
Cole-Cole-diagrams indicate the presence of a single relaxation process. A
simple analysis of the impedance data allows us to obtain two main relaxation
times. The behavior for both, ZnO crystal and thin film, is similar but the
thin film shows shorter relaxation times. The analysis indicates the existence
of two different photo-active defects with activation energies between ~0.8 eV
and ~1.1 eV.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figures. Solid state communications, in pres
The influence of Ga-irradiation on the transport properties of mesoscopic conducting thin films
We studied the influence of 30keV Ga-ions -- commonly used in focused ion
beam (FIB) devices -- on the transport properties of thin crystalline graphite
flake, LaCaMnO and Co thin films. The changes of the
electrical resistance were measured in-situ during irradiation and also the
temperature and magnetic field dependence before and after irradiation. Our
results show that the transport properties of these materials strongly change
at Ga fluences much below those used for patterning and ion beam induced
deposition (IBID), limiting seriously the use of FIB when the intrinsic
properties of the materials of interest are of importance. We present a method
that can be used to protect the sample as well as to produce selectively
irradiation-induced changes.Comment: 14 pages, 11 figures, will be published in Nanotechnology 201
Evidence of Josephson-coupled superconducting regions at the interfaces of Highly Oriented Pyrolytic Graphite
Transport properties of a few hundreds of nanometers thick (in the graphene
plane direction) lamellae of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) have
been investigated. Current-Voltage characteristics as well as the temperature
dependence of the voltage at different fixed input currents provide evidence
for Josephson-coupled superconducting regions embedded in the internal
two-dimensional interfaces, reaching zero resistance at low enough
temperatures. The overall behavior indicates the existence of superconducting
regions with critical temperatures above 100 K at the internal interfaces of
oriented pyrolytic graphite.Comment: 6 Figures, 5 page
Evidence for semiconducting behavior with a narrow band gap of Bernal graphite
We have studied the resistivity of a large number of highly oriented graphite
samples with areas ranging from several mm to a few m and
thickness from nm to several tens of micrometers. The measured
resistance can be explained by the parallel contribution of semiconducting
graphene layers with low carrier density cm and the one from
metallic-like internal interfaces. The results indicate that ideal graphite
with Bernal stacking structure is a narrow-gap semiconductor with an energy gap
meV.Comment: 14 pages, 4 Figures, to be published in New Journal of Physics (in
press, 2012