Ruisong Ma

Commensurate-incommensurate transition in graphene on hexagonal boron nitride

When a crystal is subjected to a periodic potential, under certain circumstances it can adjust itself to follow the periodicity of the potential, resulting in a commensurate state. Of particular interest are topological defects between the two commensurate phases, such as solitons and domain walls. Here we report a commensurate-incommensurate transition for graphene on top of hexagonal boron nitride (hBN). Depending on the rotation angle between the lattices of the two crystals, graphene can either stretch to adapt to a slightly different hBN periodicity (for small angles, resulting in a commensurate state) or exhibit little adjustment (the incommensurate state). In the commensurate state, areas with matching lattice constants are separated by domain walls that accumulate the generated strain. Such soliton-like objects are not only of significant fundamental interest, but their presence could also explain recent experiments where electronic and optical properties of graphene-hBN heterostructures were observed to be considerably altered.

Few-layer SnSe2 transistors with high on/off ratios

We report few-layer SnSe2 field effect transistors (FETs) with high current on/off ratios. By trying different gate configurations, 300 nm SiO2 and 70 nm HfO2 as back gate only and 70 nm HfO2 as back gate combined with a top capping layer of polymer electrolyte, few-layer SnSe2 FET with a current on/off ratio of 104 can be obtained. This provides a reliable solution for electrically modulating quasi-two-dimensional materials with high electron density (over 1013 cm−2) for field-effect transistor applications.

Impurity-induced formation of bilayered graphene on copper by chemical vapor deposition

High-quality single-layered and bilayered graphene (SLG and BLG) was synthesized on copper foil surfaces by controllable chemical vapor deposition (CVD). Impurity nanoparticles formed on the copper foil surface by hightemperature annealing were found to play a crucial role in the growth of BLG. Analysis of energy-dispersive spectrometry (EDS) data indicated that these nanoparticles consisted of silicon and aluminum. According to the inverted wedding cake model, these nanoparticles served as nucleation centers for BLG growth and the free space between a nanoparticle and graphene served as the center of C injection for the continuous growth of the adlayer beneath the top layer. By combining phase-field theory simulations, we confirmed the mechanism of BLG growth and revealed more details about it in comparison with SLG growth. For the first time, this study led to a complete understanding of the BLG growth mechanism from nucleation to continuous growth in the CVD process, and it has opened a door to the thickness-controllable synthesis of graphene.

Upgrade of a commercial four-probe scanning tunneling microscopy system

Upgrade of a commercial ultra-high vacuum four-probe scanning tunneling microscopy system for atomic resolution capability and thermal stability is reported. To improve the mechanical and thermal performance of the system, we introduced extra vibration isolation, magnetic damping, and double thermal shielding, and we redesigned the scanning structure and thermal links. The success of the upgrade is characterized by its atomically resolved imaging, steady cooling down cycles with high efficiency, and standard transport measurement capability. Our design may provide a feasible way for the upgrade of similar commercial systems.

Direct Four-Probe Measurement of Grain-Boundary Resistivity and Mobility in Millimeter-Sized Graphene

Grain boundaries (GBs) in polycrystalline graphene scatter charge carriers, which reduces carrier mobility and limits graphene applications in high-speed electronics. Here we report the extraction of the resistivity of GBs and the effect of GBs on carrier mobility by direct four-probe measurements on millimeter-sized graphene bicrystals grown by chemical vapor deposition (CVD). To extract the GB resistivity and carrier mobility from direct four-probe intragrain and intergrain measurements, an electronically equivalent extended 2D GB region is defined based on Ohms law. Measurements on seven representative GBs find that the maximum resistivities are in the range of several kΩ·μm to more than 100 kΩ·μm. Furthermore, the mobility in these defective regions is reduced to 0.4-5.9‰ of the mobility of single-crystal, pristine graphene. Similarly, the effect of wrinkles on carrier transport can also be derived. The present approach provides a reliable way to directly probe charge-carrier scattering at GBs and can be further applied to evaluate the GB effect of other two-dimensional polycrystalline materials, such as transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs).

Modulation of Fermi velocities of Dirac electrons in single layer graphene by moiré superlattice

Study of electronic properties of graphene on an anisotropic crystal substrate including boron nitride (BN) has raised significant interest recently due to the application of graphene based vertical hetero-devices. We have performed scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and scanning tunneling spectroscopy studies of single-layer graphene on hexagonal BN (h-BN) substrates with an applied perpendicular magnetic field at low temperature. Different periodic moire superlattices can be resolved with STM, and their quantized Landau levels in high magnetic field are investigated. The renormalized Fermi velocities of massless Dirac fermions in graphene are revealed to show dependent on the moire superlattice. Density functional theory calculation verifies that the interlayer interaction between graphene and h-BN is stronger with smaller twisting angle between lattices of graphene and h-BN, thus, leading to a reduction in the velocity of charge carriers. Our results should provide valuable insight of electronic prope...

Intrinsic charge transport behaviors in graphene-black phosphorus van der Waals heterojunction devices

Heterostructures from mechanically-assembled stacks of two-dimensional materials allow for versatile electronic device applications. Here, we demonstrate the intrinsic charge transport behaviors in graphene-black phosphorus heterojunction devices under different charge carrier densities and temperature regimes. At high carrier densities or in the ON state, tunneling through the Schottky barrier at the interface between graphene and black phosphorus dominates at low temperatures. With temperature increasing, the Schottky barrier at the interface is vanishing, and the channel current starts to decrease with increasing temperature, behaving like a metal. While at low carrier densities or in the OFF state, thermal emission over the Schottky barrier at the interface dominates the carriers transport process. A barrier height of ~ 67.3 meV can be extracted from the thermal emission-diffusion theory.

Direct measurements of conductivity and mobility in millimeter-sized single-crystalline graphene via van der Pauw geometry*

We report the direct measurements of conductivity and mobility in millimeter-sized single-crystalline graphene on SiO2/Si via van der Pauw geometry by using a home-designed four-probe scanning tunneling microscope (4P-STM). The gate-tunable conductivity and mobility are extracted from standard van der Pauw resistance measurements where the four STM probes contact the four peripheries of hexagonal graphene flakes, respectively. The high homogeneity of transport properties of the single-crystalline graphene flake is confirmed by comparing the extracted conductivities and mobilities from three setups with different geometry factors. Our studies provide a reliable solution for directly evaluating the entire electrical properties of graphene in a non-invasive way and could be extended to characterizing other two-dimensional materials.

Two-dimensional polyaniline nanosheets via liquid-phase exfoliation*

Two-dimensional (2D) organic nanomaterials are fascinating because of their unique properties and pentential applications in future optoelectronic devices. Polyaniline (PANI) has attracted much attention for its high conductivity, good environmental stability and unusual doping chemistry. We report on liquid-phase exfoliation of layered PANI films grown by electrochemical polymerization. Atomic force microscopy images demonstrate that few- or even mono-layer PANI nanosheets can be fabricated. The PANI nanosheets can be transferred onto a variety of surfaces, providing a promising route to their incorporation into a variety of devices for further studies and various applications.