Universal mobility characteristics of graphene originating from charge scattering by ionised impurities

Gosling, Jonathan H.; Makarovsky, Oleg; Wang, Feiran; Cottam, Nathan D.; Greenaway, Mark T.; Patan�, Amalia; Wildman, Ricky D.; Tuck, Christopher J.; Turyanska, Lyudmila; Fromhold, T. Mark

Abstract

Pristine graphene and graphene-based heterostructures can exhibit exceptionally high electron mobility if their surface contains few electron-scattering impurities. Mobility directly influences electrical conductivity and its dependence on the carrier density. But linking these key transport parameters remains a challenging task for both theorists and experimentalists. Here, we report numerical and analytical models of carrier transport in graphene, which reveal a universal connection between graphene’s carrier mobility and the variation of its electrical conductivity with carrier density. Our model of graphene conductivity is based on a convolution of carrier density and its uncertainty, which is verified by numerical solution of the Boltzmann transport equation including the effects of charged impurity scattering and optical phonons on the carrier mobility. This model reproduces, explains, and unifies experimental mobility and conductivity data from a wide range of samples and provides a way to predict a priori all key transport parameters of graphene devices. Our results open a route for controlling the transport properties of graphene by doping and for engineering the properties of 2D materials and heterostructures.

Citation

Gosling, J. H., Makarovsky, O., Wang, F., Cottam, N. D., Greenaway, M. T., Patanè, A., Wildman, R. D., Tuck, C. J., Turyanska, L., & Fromhold, T. M. (2021). Universal mobility characteristics of graphene originating from charge scattering by ionised impurities. Communications Physics, 4(1), Article 30. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-021-00518-2

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Nov 27, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Feb 18, 2021
• Publication Date: Feb 18, 2021
• Deposit Date: Jun 21, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 21, 2021
• Journal: Communications Physics
• Electronic ISSN: 2399-3650
• Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 4
• Issue: 1
• Article Number: 30
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-021-00518-2
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/5353613
• Publisher URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s42005-021-00518-2