Search

Abstract: Graphene structures with both top- and bottom-electrostatic gates are studied. The top gate is made of thin aluminium (Al) film deposited directly onto graphene, with no prior dielectric layer in between. Natural oxidation of Al at the interface with graphene results in an insulating barrier proving useful in making top gates to graphene. For electrically disconnected top gate, graphene resistance as a function of the slowly-varying back-gate voltage shows hysteresis which reveals dielectric properties of the barrier. The estimated barrier thickness is only 2nm allowing for very sharp profiles of the electric field in graphene devices. By applying voltages to both back- and top gates, effective p–n–p junctions with sharp interfaces can be created. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: We measured the Aharonov-Bohm (AB) effect in graphene rings with superconducting-(Al) and normal-metal (Au) mirrors. The mirrors were deposited either on additional stubs connected to the rings in the transverse direction or on the ring bias lines. A significant enhancement of the visible phase coherence was observed in the latter case, in which we observed even the third harmonic of the AB oscillations. The superconductivity of the mirrors appears to be unimportant for the improved coherence in graphene. A large Fermi energy mismatch between graphene and the mirror material is sufficient for this effect. In addition, a transport gap was observed in our graphene structures at the gate voltage close to the Dirac point. The value of the gap can be reproduced by assuming the occurrence of Coulomb blockade effects in graphene. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]