Transport properties of high-quality epitaxial graphene on 6H-SiC(0001)

We have extensively studied the electronic properties of epitaxial graphene grown on the Si face of a 6H silicon carbide substrate by thermal decomposition in an argon atmosphere. Using e-beam lithography, large van der Pauw structures as well as Hall bars were patterned. Their size ranged from millimeters down to submicrometer-sized Hall bars, the latter entirely placed on atomically flat substrate terraces. We found reproducible electronic properties, independent of the sample size and orientation, over a broad temperature range. A comparison of the mobility values indicated no enhanced scattering at the macroscopic step edges of the SiC substrate and due to adsorbed molecules. However, the strong coupling to the substrate results in an elevated charge carrier density nn and a reduced mobility μμ compared to exfoliated graphene. If nn is decreased the mobility rises substantially (up to 29 000 cm2/V s at 25 K), and Shubnikov–de Haas oscillations and the graphene-like quantum Hall effect become visible. This leads to the conclusion that the electrons in epitaxial graphene have the same quasi-relativistic properties previously shown in exfoliated graphene and expected from theory.

► We measured the magnetoresistance of epitaxial graphene. ► We observed the half-integer quantum Hall effect. ► The quantum mechanical structure of epitaxial graphene is the same as that of free graphene. ► High mobilities are reached near the Dirac point. ► We found the absence of an energy gap.