Dirac point and transconductance of top-gated graphene field-effect transistors operating at elevated temperature

Abstract

Top-gated graphene field-effect transistors (GFETs) have been fabricated using bilayer epitaxial graphene grown on the Si-face of 4H-SiC substrates by thermal decomposition of silicon carbide in high vacuum. Graphene films were characterized by Raman spectroscopy, Atomic Force Microscopy, Scanning Tunnelling Microscopy, and Hall measurements to estimate graphene thickness, morphology, and charge transport properties. A 27 nm thick Al2O3 gate dielectric was grown by atomic layer deposition with an e-beam evaporated Al seed layer. Electrical characterization of the GFETs has been performed at operating temperatures up to 100 °C limited by deterioration of the gate dielectric performance at higher temperatures. Devices displayed stable operation with the gate oxide dielectric strength exceeding 4.5 MV/cm at 100 °C. Significant shifting of the charge neutrality point and an increase of the peak transconductance were observed in the GFETs as the operating temperature was elevated from room temperature to 100 °C.