Transport properties of rippled graphene

J Phys Condens Matter. 2014 Apr 2;26(13):135303. doi: 10.1088/0953-8984/26/13/135303. Epub 2014 Mar 11.

Abstract

The exceptionally high mobility of carriers in graphene is one of its defining characteristics, especially in view of potential applications. Therefore it is of both practical and fundamental importance to understand the mechanisms responsible for limiting the values of the mobility. The aim of the paper is to study theoretically one such mechanism, i.e. scattering on ripples. The transport properties of rippled graphene are studied using the single-band tight-binding model. Both the bond-length variation, corresponding to the vector potential in the effective mass picture, and the fluctuating scalar potential are included in the formalism. The samples are modeled as self-similar surfaces characterized by the roughness exponent, with values ranging from those typical for graphene on SiO2 to those seen for suspended samples. The range of calculated resistivities and mobilities overlaps with those from experiments. The results presented in this paper support the notion of rippling as one of the important factors limiting the mobility of carriers in graphene.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't