Conductance of p-n-p graphene structures with "air-bridge" top gates

Nano Lett. 2008 Jul;8(7):1995-9. doi: 10.1021/nl801059v. Epub 2008 Jun 11.

Abstract

We have fabricated graphene devices with a top gate separated from the graphene layer by an air gap-a design which does not decrease the mobility of charge carriers under the gate. This gate is used to realize p-n-p structures where the conducting properties of chiral carriers are studied. The band profile of the structures is calculated taking into account the specifics of the graphene density of states and is used to find the resistance of the p-n junctions expected for chiral carriers. We show that ballistic p-n junctions have larger resistance than diffusive ones. This is caused by suppressed transmission of chiral carriers at angles away from the normal to the junction.