Poly (ethylene imine)-modulated transport behaviors of graphene field effect transistors with double Dirac points

Abstract

The bottom-gated graphene field-effect transistors (GFETs) with HfO2 as the dielectric layer are fabricated and the transport behaviors with double Dirac points defined as the right conductance minima (VDirac+) and the left one (VDirac-) are obtained, which exhibit the unique W-shaped transform characteristics rather than the typical V-shape. This observation indicates that the graphene in the channel region shows the different doping behaviors from that underlying the metal contact region. The W-shaped characteristics of GFETs are affected by the ambient environment and the time-dependence of double Dirac points has been also found. After being treated by Poly (ethylene imine) (PEI), the transport behaviors of GFETs could be modulated, especially for VDirac+ showing more obvious negative shift, indicating that PEI has a remarkable n-doping effect on the graphene in the channel region. PEI also screens the environmental influence and could protect the graphene from being p-doped to some extent. At the same time, the annealing effect has been also studied and it is found that the proper annealing process could contribute to the recovery of the graphene properties.