Nanofaceting as a stamp for periodic graphene charge carrier modulations

Abstract

The exceptional electronic properties of monatomic thin graphene sheets triggered numerous original transport concepts, pushing quantum physics into the realm of device technology for electronics, optoelectronics and thermoelectrics. At the conceptual pivot point is the particular two-dimensional massless Dirac fermion character of graphene charge carriers and its volitional modification by intrinsic or extrinsic means. Here, interfaces between different electronic and structural graphene modifications promise exciting physics and functionality, in particular when fabricated with atomic precision. In this study we show that quasiperiodic modulations of doping levels can be imprinted down to the nanoscale in monolayer graphene sheets. Vicinal copper surfaces allow to alternate graphene carrier densities by several 1013 carriers per cm2 along a specific copper high-symmetry direction. The process is triggered by a self-assembled copper faceting process during high-temperature graphene chemical vapor deposition, which defines interfaces between different graphene doping levels at the atomic level.