Helin Cao

Electronic transport in chemical vapor deposited graphene synthesized on Cu: Quantum Hall effect and weak localization

We report on electronic properties of graphene synthesized by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) on copper then transferred to SiO2/Si. Wafer-scale (up to 4 in.) graphene films have been synthesized, consisting dominantly of monolayer graphene as indicated by spectroscopic Raman mapping. Low temperature transport measurements are performed on microdevices fabricated from such CVD graphene, displaying ambipolar field effect (with on/off ratio ∼5 and carrier mobilities up to ∼3000 cm2/V s) and “half-integer” quantum Hall effect, a hall-mark of intrinsic electronic properties of monolayer graphene. We also observe weak localization and extract information about phase coherence and scattering of carriers.

Atomic-Scale Investigation of Graphene Grown on Cu Foil and the Effects of Thermal Annealing

We have investigated the effects of thermal annealing on ex-situ chemically vapor deposited submonolayer graphene islands on polycrystalline Cu foil at the atomic-scale using ultrahigh vacuum scanning tunneling microscopy. Low-temperature annealed graphene islands on Cu foil (at ∼430 °C) exhibit predominantly striped Moiré patterns, indicating a relatively weak interaction between graphene and the underlying polycrystalline Cu foil. Rapid high-temperature annealing of the sample (at 700-800 °C) gives rise to the removal of Cu oxide and the recovery of crystallographic features of the copper that surrounds the intact graphene. These experimental observations of continuous crystalline features between the underlying copper (beneath the graphene islands) and the surrounding exposed copper areas revealed by high-temperature annealing demonstrates the impenetrable nature of graphene and its potential application as a protective layer against corrosion.

Large-scale graphitic thin films synthesized on Ni and transferred to insulators: Structural and electronic properties

We present a comprehensive study of the structural and electronic properties of ultrathin films containing graphene layers synthesized by chemical vapor deposition based surface segregation on polycrystalline Ni foils then transferred onto insulating SiO2/Si substrates. Films of size up to several mm’s have been synthesized. Structural characterizations by atomic force microscopy, scanning tunneling microscopy, cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (XTEM), and Raman spectroscopy confirm that such large-scale graphitic thin films (GTF) contain both thick graphite regions and thin regions of few-layer graphene. The films also contain many wrinkles, with sharply-bent tips and dislocations revealed by XTEM, yielding insights on the growth and buckling processes of the GTF. Measurements on mm-scale back-gated transistor devices fabricated from the transferred GTF show ambipolar field effect with resistance modulation ∼50% and carrier mobilities reaching ∼2000 cm2/V s. We also demonstrate quantum tra...

Direct Imaging of Graphene Edges: Atomic Structure and Electronic Scattering

We report an atomically resolved scanning tunneling microscopy investigation of the edges of graphene grains synthesized on Cu foils by chemical vapor deposition. Most of the edges are macroscopically parallel to the zigzag directions of graphene lattice. These edges have microscopic roughness that is found to also follow zigzag directions at atomic scale, displaying many ∼120° turns. A prominent standing wave pattern with periodicity ∼3a/4 (a being the graphene lattice constant) is observed near a rare-occurring armchair-oriented edge. Observed features of this wave pattern are consistent with the electronic intervalley backscattering predicted to occur at armchair edges but not at zigzag edges.

Ultrafast carrier and phonon dynamics in Bi2Se3 crystals

in this material, 11 particularly the electron‐electron, electron‐phonon, and phonon‐phonon interactions. In this letter, we report the ultrafast time-resolved optical spectroscopy study of Bi2Se3 crystals in both the time domain and the energy domain. Our measurements reveal three underlying relaxation processes in the transient response of Bi2Se3, each associated with different physical mechanisms. It is also shown that the relative strength of these processes is sensitive to air exposure of the samples. The observed charge trapping and air doping effects are likely due to the presence of Se vacancies, a major issue material scientists working to use the properties of Bi2Se3 will face in the near term. The Bi2Se3 single crystals studied in this work were synthesized via the Bridgman method at Purdue University and Fudan University. During crystal growth, the mixture of high purity elements was first deoxidized and purified by multiple vacuum distillations, and then heated to 850‐900 °C for 15 h, followed by a slow cool down under a controlled pressure of Se to compensate for possible Se vacancies. Afterwards, the samples were zone refined at a speed of 0.5‐1.5 mm/hour with a linear temperature gradient set to 4‐5 °C /cm, until a temperature of 670 °C was reached. The as-grown Bi2Se3 crystals from both groups are naturally n-doped due to remnant Se vacancies. 4 Hall mea

Structural properties of Bi2Te3 and Bi2Se3 topological insulators grown by molecular beam epitaxy on GaAs(001) substrates

Thin films of Bi2Te3 and Bi2Se3 have been grown on deoxidized GaAs(001) substrates using molecular beam epitaxy. Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy established the highly parallel nature of the Te(Se)-Bi-Te(Se)-Bi-Te(Se) quintuple layers deposited on the slightly wavy GaAs substrate surface and the different crystal symmetries of the two materials. Raman mapping confirmed the presence of the strong characteristic peaks reported previously for these materials in bulk form. The overall quality of these films reveals the potential of combining topological insulators with ferromagnetic semiconductors for future applications.

Graphene Induced Surface Reconstruction of Cu

An atomic-scale study utilizing scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) in ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) is performed on large single crystalline graphene grains synthesized on Cu foil by a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method. After thermal annealing, we observe the presence of periodic surface depressions (stripe patterns) that exhibit long-range order formed in the area of Cu covered by graphene. We suggest that the observed stripe pattern is a Cu surface reconstruction formed by partial dislocations (which appeared to be stair-rod-like) resulting from the strain induced by the graphene overlayer. In addition, these graphene grains are shown to be more decoupled from the Cu substrate compared to previously studied grains that exhibited Moiré patterns.

Structural properties of Bi{sub 2}Te{sub 3} and Bi{sub 2}Se{sub 3} topological insulators grown by molecular beam epitaxy on GaAs(001) substrates

Thin films of Bi2Te3 and Bi2Se3 have been grown on deoxidized GaAs(001) substrates using molecular beam epitaxy. Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy established the highly parallel nature of the Te(Se)-Bi-Te(Se)-Bi-Te(Se) quintuple layers deposited on the slightly wavy GaAs substrate surface and the different crystal symmetries of the two materials. Raman mapping confirmed the presence of the strong characteristic peaks reported previously for these materials in bulk form. The overall quality of these films reveals the potential of combining topological insulators with ferromagnetic semiconductors for future applications.

Topological insulator Bi2Te3 films synthesized by metal organic chemical vapor deposition

Topological insulator (TI) materials such as Bi2Te3 and Bi2Se3 have attracted strong recent interests. Large scale, high quality TI thin films are important for developing TI-based device applications. In this work, structural and electronic properties of Bi2Te3 thin films deposited by metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) on GaAs (001) substrates were characterized via X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES), and electronic transport measurements. The characteristic topological surface states (SS) with a single Dirac cone have been clearly revealed in the electronic band structure measured by ARPES, confirming the TI nature of the MOCVD Bi2Te3 films. Resistivity and Hall effect measurements have demonstrated relatively high bulk carrier mobility of ~350 cm^2/Vs at 300K and ~7,400 cm^2/Vs at 15 K. We have also measured the Seebeck coefficient of the films. Our demonstration of high quality topological insulator films grown by a simple and scalable method is of interests for both fundamental research and practical applications of thermoelectric and TI materials.

Ambipolar graphene field effect transistors by local metal side gates

We demonstrate ambipolar graphene field effect transistors individually controlled by local metal side gates. The side gated field effect can have on/off ratio comparable with that of the global back gate, and can be tuned in a large range by the back gate and/or a second side gate. We also find that the side gated field effect is significantly stronger by electrically floating the back gate compared to grounding the back gate, consistent with the finding from electrostatic simulation.