MRSEC Highlights 2009
MRSEC Highlights 2009
MRSEC Highlights 2009
Advantages:
• Extremely mild conditions
O2 N N N , BF4
• Minimum perturbation to electronic structure of EG
0.1 M [Bu4N] PF6
(conversion of C sp2 to sp3)
ACN; RT, Ar, 20 h • Simple, Fast, Versatile
Fig. 1 Spontaneous grafting of aryl groups to epitaxial Fig. 2 Temperature dependence of sheet resistance of pristine
graphene (EG) and nitrophenyl functionalized graphene (NP-EG).
Workshop covered importance and
future of epitaxial graphene. Advances
described by GT MRSEC investigators
facilitated discussion of future research
directions and promoted additional
international collaborations.
Sponsored by NSF-MRSEC through contract DMR-0820382
Georgia Institute of Technology NSF MRSEC Highlight:
Graphene-based Transparent Electrodes for Organic Electronics
Samuel Graham, School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Tech
Robert Haddon, School of Chemistry, University of California Riverside
NSF Support: DMR-0804908 and facilities of the Georgia Tech MRSEC (DMR-0820382).
Quantization of Zero-Mass Particles in Graphene
D. L. Miller*, K. D. Kubista*, M. Ruan, W. A. de Heer, and P. N. First
School of Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology
G. M. Rutter and J. A. Stroscio
NIST Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology
* These authors contributed equally to this work.
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NSF Support: DMR-0804908 and facilities of the Georgia Tech MRSEC (DMR-0820382).
Due to the wave nature of matter, the circular "cyclotron" orbits of electrons in a magnetic
field must join on to themselves after a full revolution; like a dog catching its tail. For
electrons in graphene, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology (D. L. Miller, K. D.
Kubista, M. Ruan, W. A. de Heer and P. N. First) and the NIST Center for Nanoscale
Science and Technology (G. M. Rutter and J. A. Stroscio) have resolved the discrete
spectrum of electron energies resulting from this wave-matching condition. Their low-
temperature (4.3 K) scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and spectroscopy
measurements allow detailed comparison with the predicted energy structure of graphene,
a one-atom-thick honeycomb of carbon atoms. The spectra show two signatures unique to
graphene: A sqrt(B) dependence of the magnetic-quantization energy states (Landau
levels) and a Landau level that remains fixed at zero energy, independent of the applied
magnetic field. The team also developed a new technique based on “tunneling magneto-
conductance oscillations,” that was used to determine the energy versus momentum
relation in graphene with high precision. All measurements utilized multilayer epitaxial
graphene (MEG) synthesized at Georgia Tech; a material whose unusual rotated layer-
stacking results in electrical decoupling of neighboring graphene sheets.
(Left) Cartoon of quantized circular orbits of graphene electrons in a magnetic field.
Background honeycomb is an STM image of multilayer epitaxial graphene (MEG). Yellow
areas are raised (0.01 nm) regions created by the Moiré alignment of slightly rotated
graphene layers.
(Right) Tunneling differential conductance (dI/dV) spectra from the top layer of a 10-layer
MEG sample taken for magnetic fields from 0-6 T. Background curves show the predicted
Landau-level spectrum of graphene.
NSF Support: DMR-0804908 and facilities of the Georgia Tech MRSEC (DMR-0820382).
Related Publication: D. L. Miller*, K. D. Kubista*, G. M. Rutter, M. Ruan, W. A. de Heer, P.
N. First, and J. A. Stroscio, Science 324, 924-7 (2009).
* These authors contributed equally to this work.
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Shared Experimental Facilities
Dr. Walt de Heer, Dr. Claire Berger, Dr. Edward Conrad, School of Physics, Georgia Tech