Artificial Graphene on Si Substrates: Fabrication and Transport Characteristics

Artificial graphene (AG) based on a honeycomb lattice of semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) has been of great interest for exploration and applications of massless Dirac Fermions in semiconductors thanks to the tunable interplay between the carrier interactions and the honeycomb topology. Here, an innovative strategy to realize AG on Si substrates is developed by fabricating a honeycomb lattice of Au nanodisks on a Si/GeSi quantum well. The lateral potential modulation induced by the nanoscale Au/Si Schottky junction results in the formation of quantum dots arranged in a honeycomb lattice to form AG. Nonlinear current-voltage curves of the AG reveal conductance phase transitions with switch on/off voltages, a large electric hysteresis loop, and a strong sharp current peak accompanied by a group of differential-conductance peaks and negative differential conductance around the switch-on voltage, which can be modulated by temperature and light. These features are interpreted by a model based on the Coulomb blockade effect, the collective resonant tunneling, and the coupling of holes in the AG. Our results not only demonstrate an approach to the formation but also will greatly stimulate the characterizations and the applications of innovative semiconductor-based AG.

Automated summary

An innovative strategy has been developed to realize artificial graphene on Si substrates by fabricating a honeycomb lattice of Au nanodisks, resulting in unique features such as nonlinear current-voltage curves and conductance phase transitions. These characteristics are interpreted by a model based on the Coulomb blockade effect, resonant tunneling, and hole coupling within the artificial graphene.