Collaborative Research: Impurity Incorporation into Epitaxial Graphene on SiC

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Technical Description: The goal of this research project is to develop a novel method to place controlled amounts of substitutional impurities into graphene grown on SiC, to physically and electronically characterize the doped structures, and to evaluate the changes in the film's properties. Impurities are implanted into a SiC wafer prior to graphene formation. The wafer is annealed to bring the impurity distribution near the surface. Then graphene is grown by sublimation of Si, simultaneously driving the impurities into the graphene film. After this process, the impurity distribution is characterized by surface analytical techniques as well as by electrical transport measurements. If successful, the method can also be applied to other two-dimensional materials.Non-technical Description: Graphene, a single layer of carbon atoms bound together in a honeycomb lattice structure, has unique electrical and mechanical properties. Effective use of these properties requires the inclusion of predetermined amounts of impurity atoms (doping) in the films. The project develops a new method to incorporate controlled amounts of atoms into a single atomic layer of graphene, and provides graduate student training in an interdisciplinary environment. In addition, undergraduate students at the University of Minnesota and at Rutgers University, as well as high school teachers working at Georgia Tech, obtain direct hands-on research experience in the project as well as study materials and new understanding resulting from the project in courses taught by the principal investigators.