Giant quantum oscillations of acoustoelectric current in narrow graphene nanoribbons

Abstract

A theory is presented for the acoustoelectric (AE) effect in narrow graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) deposited on a piezoelectric substrate when a surface acoustic wave (SAW) is launched onto the surface of the piezoelectric. It is assumed that the electron density in such GNRs can be controlled by applying an external gate voltage, and the acoustic wavelength is much smaller than the mean free path of electrons, so that the quantum mode of interaction of those electrons with the SAW in realized. Using the kinetic theory approach, we calculate the AE current flowing through the GNR sample and arising as a result of momentum transfer from coherent SAW phonons to conduction electrons. It is shown that size quantization of the electron energy spectrum in narrow GNRs leads to giant periodic oscillations of the AE current with a change in the gate voltage. AE current surges occur whenever the Fermi level, rising with increasing gate voltage, crosses in turn the bottom of each of the successive size-quantized electron energy subbands. The oscillations predicted are giant in the sense that the maximum values of the current exceed its minimum values by at least an order of magnitude, and they can be observed in narrow GNRs ∼10 nm wide even at room temperature.