A comparison of the field emission characteristics of vertically aligned graphene sheets grown on different SiC substrates

The field emission （FE） properties of vertically aligned graphene sheets （VAGSs） grown on different SiC substrates are reported. The VAGSs grown on nonpolar SiC （10-10） substrate show an ordered alignment with the graphene basal plane-parallel to each other, and show better FE features, with a lower turn-on field and a larger field enhancement factor. The VAGSs grown on polar SiC （000-1 ） substrate reveal a random petaloid-shaped arrangement and stable current emission over 8 hours with a maximum emission current fluctuation of only 4%. The reasons behind the differing FE characteristics of the VAGSs on different SiC substrates are analyzed and discussed.     

A self-powered sensitive ultraviolet photodetector based on epitaxial graphene on silicon carbide

A self-powered graphene-based photodetector with high performance is particularly useful for device miniaturization and to save energy.Here,we report a graphene/silicon carbide(SiC)-based self-powered ultraviolet photodetector that exhibits a current responsivity of 7.4 m A/W with a response frequency of over a megahertz under 325-nm laser irradiation.The built-in photovoltage of the photodetector is about four orders of magnitude higher than previously reported results for similar devices.These favorable properties are ascribed to the ingenious device design using the combined advantages of graphene and SiC,two terminal electrodes,and asymmetric light irradiation on one of the electrodes.Importantly,the photon energy is larger than the band gap of SiC.This self-powered photodetector is compatible with modern semiconductor technology and shows potential for applications in ultraviolet imaging and graphene-based integrated circuits.     

Effect of 6H-SiC （1120） substrate on epitaxial graphene revealed by Raman scattering

A nonpolar SiC(1120) substrate has been used to fabricate epitaxial graphene (EG). Two EGs with layer numbers of 8-10 (referred to as MLG) and 2-3 (referred to as FLG) were used as representative to study the substrate effect on EG through temperature dependent Raman scattering. It is found that Raman lineshifts of G and 2D peaks of the MLG with temperature are consistent with that of a free graphene predicted by theory calculation, indicating that the substrate influence on the MLG is undetectable. While Raman G peak lineshifts of the FLG to that of the free graphene are obvious, however, its lineshift rate (-0.016 cm^-1/K) is almost one third of that (-0.043 cm^-1/K) of a EG on 6H-SiC (0001) in the temperature range from 300 K to 400 K, indicating a weak substrate effect from SiC (1120) on the FLG. This renders the FLG a high mobility around 1812 cm²- ·V^-1-·s^-1 at room temperature even with a very high carrier concentration about 2.95× 10¹³ cm^-2 (p-type). These suggest SiC (1120) is more suitable for fabricating EG with high performance.     

Influence of defects in SiC （0001） on epitaxial graphene

Defects in silicon carbide(SiC) substrate are crucial to the properties of the epitaxial graphene(EG) grown on it. Here we report the effect of defects in SiC on the crystalline quality of EGs through comparative studies of the characteristics of the EGs grown on SiC(0001) substrates with different defect densities. It is found that EGs on high quality SiC possess regular steps on the surface of the SiC and there is no discernible D peak in its Raman spectrum. Conversely, the EG on the SiC with a high density of defects has a strong D peak, irregular stepped morphology and poor uniformity in graphene layer numbers. It is the defects in the SiC that are responsible for the irregular stepped morphology and lead to the small domain size in the EG.