Standardization of surface potential measurements of graphene domains

Sci Rep. 2013:3:2597. doi: 10.1038/srep02597.

Abstract

We compare the three most commonly used scanning probe techniques to obtain a reliable value of the work function in graphene domains of different thickness. The surface potential (SP) of graphene is directly measured in Hall bar geometry via a combination of electrical functional microscopy and spectroscopy techniques, which enables calibrated work function measurements of graphene domains in ambient conditions with values Φ1LG ~4.55 ± 0.02 eV and Φ2LG ~ 4.44 ± 0.02 eV for single- and bi-layer, respectively. We demonstrate that frequency-modulated Kelvin probe force microscopy (FM-KPFM) provides more accurate measurement of the SP than amplitude-modulated (AM)-KPFM. The discrepancy between experimental results obtained by different techniques is discussed. In addition, we use FM-KPFM for contactless measurements of the specific components of the device resistance. We show a strong non-Ohmic behavior of the electrode-graphene contact resistance and extract the graphene channel resistivity.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Graphite / chemistry*
  • Materials Testing / methods*
  • Materials Testing / standards
  • Microscopy, Scanning Probe / methods*
  • Microscopy, Scanning Probe / standards
  • Nanoparticles / chemistry*
  • Nanoparticles / ultrastructure*
  • Surface Properties

Substances

  • Graphite