Effect of the Coulomb scattering on graphene conductivity

The effect of the Coulomb scattering on graphene conductivity in field-effect transistor structures is discussed. Interparticle scattering (electron-electron, hole-hole, and electron-hole) and scattering on charged defects are taken into account in a wide range of gate voltages. It is shown that an intrinsic conductivity of graphene (purely ambipolar system, where both electron and hole densities exactly coincide) is defined by a strong electron-hole scattering. It has a universal value independent of the temperature. We give an explicit derivation based on the scaling theory. When there is even a small discrepancy in the electron and hole densities caused by the applied gate voltage, the conductivity is determined by both a strong electron-hole scattering and a weak external scattering: on the defects or phonons. We suggest that the density of the charged defects (occupancy of defects) depends on the Fermi energy to explain the sublinear dependence of conductivity on a fairly high gate voltage observed in the experiments. We also eliminate the contradictions between the experimental data obtained in the deposited and suspended graphene structures regarding the graphene conductivity. The text was submitted by the authors in English.