Giant tunnel-electron injection in nitrogen-doped graphene

Jérôme Lagoute, Frédéric Joucken, Vincent Repain, Yann Tison, Cyril Chacon, Amandine Bellec, Yann Girard, Robert Sporken, Edward H. Conrad, François Ducastelle, Mattias Palsgaard, Nick Papior Andersen, Mads Brandbyge, and Sylvie Rousset
Phys. Rev. B 91, 125442 – Published 31 March 2015

Abstract

Scanning tunneling microscopy experiments have been performed to measure the local electron injection in nitrogen-doped graphene on SiC(0001¯) and were successfully compared to ab initio calculations. In graphene, a gaplike feature is measured around the Fermi level due to a phonon-mediated tunneling channel. At nitrogen sites, this feature vanishes due to an increase of the elastic channel that is allowed because of symmetry breaking induced by the nitrogen atoms. A large conductance enhancement by a factor of up to 500 was measured at the Fermi level by comparing local spectroscopy at nitrogen sites and at carbon sites. Nitrogen doping can therefore be proposed as a way to improve tunnel-electron injection in graphene.

  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Received 12 November 2014
  • Revised 3 March 2015

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.91.125442

©2015 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Jérôme Lagoute1,*, Frédéric Joucken2, Vincent Repain1, Yann Tison1,†, Cyril Chacon1, Amandine Bellec1, Yann Girard1, Robert Sporken2, Edward H. Conrad3, François Ducastelle4, Mattias Palsgaard5, Nick Papior Andersen5, Mads Brandbyge5, and Sylvie Rousset1

  • 1Laboratoire Matériaux et Phénomènes Quantiques, Université Paris Diderot-Paris 7, Sorbonne Paris Cité, CNRS, UMR 7162, 10, Rue A. Domon et L. Duquet, 75205 Paris 13, France
  • 2Research Center in Physics of Matter and Radiation (PMR), Université de Namur, 61 Rue de Bruxelles, 5000 Namur, Belgium
  • 3The Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0430, USA
  • 4Laboratoire d'Etude des Microstructures, ONERA-CNRS, BP 72, 92322 Châtillon Cedex, France
  • 5Center for Nanostructured Graphene, Department of Micro- and Nanotechnology, Technical University of Denmark, Ørsteds Plads, Bldg. 345E, DK-2800 Kongens Lyngby, Denmark

  • *jerome.lagoute@univ-paris-diderot.fr
  • Present address: Université de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour, IPREM - ECP CNRS UMR 5254, technopole hélioparc, 2 av. du Président Angot, 64053 Pau Cedex 09, France.

Article Text (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand

References (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand
Issue

Vol. 91, Iss. 12 — 15 March 2015

Reuse & Permissions
Access Options
CHORUS

Article Available via CHORUS

Download Accepted Manuscript
Author publication services for translation and copyediting assistance advertisement

Authorization Required


×
×

Images

×

Sign up to receive regular email alerts from Physical Review B

Log In

Cancel
×

Search


Article Lookup

Paste a citation or DOI

Enter a citation
×