Doping graphene thin films with metallic nanoparticles: Experiment and theory

Abstract

Precise doping of graphene at nanoscale resolution is vital for a number of applications in nanoelectronics and sustainable energy. Although large metallic contacts are presumed to move the Fermi level of graphene above or below the Dirac point, little has been done to study these effects when graphene is in contact with nanoscale metallic objects of specific sizes and concentrations and to investigate if such phenomena are associated with some forms of doping as in conventional semiconductors. As a case study we determine here the local effect of copper nanoparticles (Cu-NPs) on the Fermi energy of graphene domains in large-area graphene thin films. Tight-binding calculations corroborate our Kelvin-probe force microscopy experiments indicating that the Fermi level shifts in the presence of Cu-NPs (corresponding to 0.2 eV at 20% graphene area coverage by Cu) which break the electron-hole symmetry of graphene due to its weak Van der Waals interactions with Cu even in the absence of chemical bonding and charge transfer, in contrast to previous predictions for large and flat metallic contacts.