Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Trilayer graphene is a semimetal with a gate-tunable band overlap

Nature Nanotechnology volume 4, pages 383–388 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

Graphene-based materials are promising candidates for nanoelectronic devices1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14 because very high carrier mobilities can be achieved without the use of sophisticated material preparation techniques1. However, the carrier mobilities reported for single-layer and bilayer graphene are still less than those reported for graphite crystals at low temperatures, and the optimum number of graphene layers for any given application is currently unclear, because the charge transport properties of samples containing three or more graphene layers have not yet been investigated systematically1. Here, we study charge transport through trilayer graphene as a function of carrier density, temperature, and perpendicular electric field. We find that trilayer graphene is a semimetal with a resistivity that decreases with increasing electric field, a behaviour that is markedly different from that of single-layer and bilayer graphene. We show that the phenomenon originates from an overlap between the conduction and valence bands that can be controlled by an electric field, a property that had never previously been observed in any other semimetal. We also determine the effective mass of the charge carriers, and show that it accounts for a large part of the variation in the carrier mobility as the number of layers in the sample is varied.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Characterization of trilayer graphene.
Figure 2: Transport in the presence of a perpendicular electric field.
Figure 3: Temperature-dependent transport through trilayer graphene.
Figure 4: Electric field dependence of the band overlap in trilayer graphene.
Figure 5: Comparison of carrier mobility in few-layer graphene.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Novoselov, K. S. et al. Electric field effect in atomically thin carbon films. Science 306, 666–669 (2004).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Novoselov, K. S. et al. Two-dimensional gas of massless Dirac fermions in graphene. Nature 438, 197–200 (2005).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Zhang, Y. B. et al. Experimental observation of the quantum Hall effect and Berry's phase in graphene. Nature 438, 201–204 (2005).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Geim, A. K. & Novoselov, K. S. The rise of graphene. Nature Mater. 6, 183–191 (2007).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Tombros, N. et al. Electronic spin transport and spin precession in single graphene layers at room temperature. Nature 448, 571–574 (2007).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Williams, J. R., DiCarlo, L. & Marcus, C. M. Quantum Hall effect in a gate-controlled p–n junction of graphene. Science 317, 638–641 (2007).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Ponomarenko, L. A. et al. Chaotic Dirac billiard in graphene quantum dots. Science 320, 356–358 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Meric, I. et al. Current saturation in zero-bandgap, top-gated graphene field-effect transistors. Nature Nanotech. 3, 654–659 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Novoselov, K. S. et al. Unconventional quantum Hall effect and Berry's phase of 2π in bilayer graphene. Nature Phys. 2, 177–180 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Oostinga, J. B. et al. Gate-induced insulating state in bilayer graphene devices. Nature Mater. 7, 151–157 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Castro, E. V. et al. Biased bilayer graphene: Semiconductor with a gap tunable by the electric field effect. Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 216802 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Ohta, T., Bostwick, A., Seyller, T., Horn, K. & Rotenberg, E. Controlling the electronic structure of bilayer graphene. Science 313, 951–954 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Guettinger, J. et al. Coulomb oscillations in three-layer graphene nanostructures. New J. Phys. 10, 125029 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Schedin, F. et al. Detection of individual gas molecules adsorbed on graphene. Nature Mater. 6, 652–655 (2007).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Bolotin, K. I. et al. Ultrahigh electron mobility in suspended graphene. Solid State Commun. 146, 351–355 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Sugihara, K., Kawamura, K. & Tsuzuku, T. Temperature dependence of the average mobility in graphite. J. Phys. Soc. Jpn 47, 1210–1215 (1979).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Dreselhaus, M. S. & Dresselhaus, G. Intercalation compounds of graphite. Adv. Phys. 30, 139–326 (1981).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Chen, J. H., Jang, C., Xiao, S., Ishigami, M. & Fuhrer, M. S. Intrinsic and extrinsic performance limits of graphene devices on SiO2 . Nature Nanotech. 3, 206–209 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Guinea, F., Castro Neto, A. H. & Peres, N. M. R. Electronic states and Landau levels in graphene stacks. Phys. Rev. B 73, 245426 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Latil, S. & Henrard, L. Charge carriers in few-layer graphene films. Phys. Rev. Lett. 97, 036803 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Partoens, B. & Peeters, F. M. From graphene to graphite: Electronic structure around the K point. Phys. Rev. B 74, 075404 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Lu, C. L. et al. Influence of an electric field on the optical properties of few-layer graphene with AB stacking. Phys. Rev. B 73, 144427 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Aoki, M. & Amawashi, H. Dependence of band structures on stacking and field in layered graphene. Solid State Commun. 142, 123–127 (2007).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. McCann, E. Asymmetry gap in the electronic band structure of bilayer graphene. Phys. Rev. B 74, 161403 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Min, H., Sahu, B. R., Banerjee, S. K. & MacDonald, A. H. Ab initio theory of gate induced gaps in graphene bilayers. Phys. Rev. B 75, 155115 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. McClure, J. W. Band structure of graphite and de Haas–van Alphen effect. Phys. Rev. 108, 612–618 (1957).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Slonczewski, J. C. & Weiss, P. R. Band structure of graphite. Phys. Rev. 109, 272–279 (1958).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Koshino, M. & Ando, T. Orbital diamagnetism in multilayer graphenes: Systematic study with the effective mass approximation. Phys. Rev. B 76, 085425 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Klein, C. A. STB model and transport properties of pyrolytic graphite. J. Appl. Phys. 35, 2947–2957 (1964).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Ohta, T. et al. Interlayer interaction and electronic screening in multilayer graphene investigated with angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 206802 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Koshino, M. & McCann, E . Gate-induced interlayer asymmetry in ABA-stacked trilayer graphene. Phys. Rev. B 79, 125443 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge E. McCann, M. Koshino and T. Ando for illuminating discussions and for sharing their preliminary theoretical results concerning the band structure modulation of trilayer graphene. We acknowledge financial support from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, grant P07372 (M.F.C.), Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter (S.R.), Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists A (no. 20684011) and Exploratory Research for Advanced Technology—Japan Science and Technology Agency (080300000477) (M.Y.). A.F.M. gratefully acknowledges financial support from The Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) VICI and Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter in the Netherlands and from the Swiss National Science Foundation (grant 200021-121569). S.T. acknowledges financial support from the Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research S (no. 19104007), B (no. 18340081) and Japan Science and Technology Agency—Core Research for Evolutional Science and Technology.

Author information

Author notes

  1. M. F. Craciun and S. Russo: These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Applied Physics and Quantum-Phase Electronics Center, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8656, Japan

    M. F. Craciun, S. Russo, M. Yamamoto & S. Tarucha

  2. Kavli Institute of Nanoscience, Delft University of Technology, Lorentzweg 1, Delft, 2628, CJ, The Netherlands

    S. Russo & J. B. Oostinga

  3. Department of Condensed Matter Physics and Group of Applied Physics, University of Geneva, quai Ernest-Ansermet 24, Geneva 4, CH-1211, Switzerland

    J. B. Oostinga & A. F. Morpurgo

  4. Quantum Spin Information Project, International Cooperative Research Project, Japan Science and Technology Agency, Atsugi-shi, 243-0198, Japan

    S. Tarucha

  5. Institute for Nano Quantum Information Electronics, The University of Tokyo, 4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, 153-8505, Japan

    S. Tarucha

Authors
  1. M. F. Craciun
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. S. Russo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. M. Yamamoto
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. J. B. Oostinga
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. A. F. Morpurgo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. S. Tarucha
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

M.F.C. and S.R. contributed equally to this work: they conceived and performed the experiments, analysed the data, and wrote the manuscript. A.F.M. contributed to the interpretation of the data and to writing the manuscript. J.B.O. contributed to the device fabrication. M.Y. contributed to the realization of the measurement setups. S.T. directed the research. All authors discussed the results extensively and commented on the manuscript.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to M. F. Craciun or S. Russo.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

Supplementary Information (PDF 1207 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Craciun, M., Russo, S., Yamamoto, M. et al. Trilayer graphene is a semimetal with a gate-tunable band overlap. Nature Nanotech 4, 383–388 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2009.89

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2009.89

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing