Transport measurements on graphene p-n junctions
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- Klein tunneling is a relativistic quantum effect standing at the base of the Quantum Electrodynamics (QED) theory. It describes a relativistic process where a particle obeying the Dirac equation - called a Dirac Fermion - propagates through a strong repulsive potential step without the exponential attenuation typical to quantum tunneling. Counter-intuitively, the stronger the potential step, the more transparent it becomes for the particle. Although the QED theory had proven to be a successful theory describing reality accurately, Klein tunneling has not yet been observed experimentally. The extreme conditions required to observe such an effect may occur in collisions of super-heavy nuclei or pair production at the horizon of a black hole, difficult or impossible to realize in a laboratory. However, a recently discovered material called graphene, which is a one atom-thick lattice of carbons, can be used as a testbed for such an effect. Since graphene carriers have been proven to be Dirac-like Fermions, the analog of Klein tunneling can be investigated in a commonly used condensed matter setup via electrical transport measurements. In this work we present experimental evidence for graphene carriers obeying Klein tunneling transport using a set of metallic gates on graphene to create p-n junctions. These p-n junctions incorporate a potential step for graphene Dirac-like Fermions allowing us to investigate Klein tunneling in graphene. Finally, we also discuss the existence of p-n junction-like structures between metal contacts and graphene, a topic that has an impact on graphene's electronic device applications.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic; electronic resource; remote |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Publication date | 2010 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Associated with | Stander, Nimrod |
|---|---|
| Associated with | Stanford University, Department of Physics |
| Primary advisor | Goldhaber-Gordon, David, 1972- |
| Thesis advisor | Goldhaber-Gordon, David, 1972- |
| Thesis advisor | Beasley, Malcolm |
| Thesis advisor | Kapitulnik, Aharon |
| Advisor | Beasley, Malcolm |
| Advisor | Kapitulnik, Aharon |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Nimrod Stander. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Department of Physics. |
| Thesis | Thesis (Ph.D.)--Stanford University, 2010. |
| Location | electronic resource |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2010 by Nimrod Stander
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
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