The recent discovery of methods to isolate graphene 1-3 , a one-atom-thick layer of crystalline carbon, has raised the possibility of a new class of nano-electronics devices based on the extraordinary electrical transport and unusual physical properties 4,5 of this material. However, the experimental realization of devices displaying these properties was, until now, hampered by the influence of the ambient environment, primarily the substrate. Here we report on the fabrication of Suspended Graphene (SG) devices and on studies of their electrical transport properties. In these devices, environmental disturbances were minimized allowing unprecedented access to the intrinsic properties of graphene close to the Dirac Point (DP) where the energy dispersion of the carriers and their density-of-states vanish linearly giving rise to a range of exotic physical properties. We show that charge inhomogeneity is reduced by almost one order of magnitude compared to that in Non-Suspended Graphene (NSG) devices. Moreover, near the DP, the mobility exceeds 100,000 cm 2 /Vs, approaching theoretical predictions for evanescent transport in the ballistic model. The low energy excitation spectrum of graphene mimics relativistic particles -massless Dirac fermions (DF) -with an electron-hole symmetric conical energy dispersion and .vanishing density of states at the DP. Such unusual spectrum is expected to produce 1 novel electronic properties such as negative index of refraction 6 , specular Andreev reflections at graphene-superconductor junctions 7,8 , evanescent transport 9 , anomalous phonon softening 10 , etc. A basic assumption behind these intriguing predictions is that the graphene layer is minimally affected by interactions with the environment. However in reality the environment 11,12 and in particular the substrate 13 , can be quite invasive for such ultra-thin films. For example, the carrier mobility in graphene deposited on a substrate such as Si/SiO 2 deteriorates due to trapped charges in the oxide or to contaminants that get trapped at the graphene-substrate interface during fabrication. The substrate-induced charge inhomogeneity is particularly deleterious near the DP where screening is weak, 14,15 leading to reduced carrier mobility there. In addition, the atomic roughness of the substrate introduces short range scattering centers and may contribute to quench-condensation of ripples within the graphene layer 16 .In order to eliminate substrate induced perturbations, graphene films were suspended from Au/Ti contacts to bridge over a trench in a SiO 2 substrate. In contrast to prior realizations of suspended graphene 17,18 which did not provide electrical contacts for transport measurements, the SG devices described here incorporate multiple electrodes that allow 4-lead transport measurements. The SG devices employed here were fabricated from conventional NSG devices using wet chemical etching (see supporting online material). In a typical SG device, shown in Figure 1b, the graphene layer is suspended from the voltage l...

In graphene, which is an atomic layer of crystalline carbon, two of the distinguishing properties of the material are the charge carriers' two-dimensional and relativistic character. The first experimental evidence of the two-dimensional nature of graphene came from the observation of a sequence of plateaus in measurements of its transport properties in the presence of an applied magnetic field. These are signatures of the so-called integer quantum Hall effect. However, as a consequence of the relativistic character of the charge carriers, the integer quantum Hall effect observed in graphene is qualitatively different from its semiconductor analogue. As a third distinguishing feature of graphene, it has been conjectured that interactions and correlations should be important in this material, but surprisingly, evidence of collective behaviour in graphene is lacking. In particular, the quintessential collective quantum behaviour in two dimensions, the fractional quantum Hall effect (FQHE), has so far resisted observation in graphene despite intense efforts and theoretical predictions of its existence. Here we report the observation of the FQHE in graphene. Our observations are made possible by using suspended graphene devices probed by two-terminal charge transport measurements. This allows us to isolate the sample from substrate-induced perturbations that usually obscure the effects of interactions in this system and to avoid effects of finite geometry. At low carrier density, we find a field-induced transition to an insulator that competes with the FQHE, allowing its observation only in the highest quality samples. We believe that these results will open the door to the physics of FQHE and other collective behaviour in graphene.

The Josephson Effect and Superconducting Proximity Effect were observed in Superconductor -Graphene-Superconductor (SGS) Josephson junctions with coherence lengths comparable to the distance between the superconducting leads. By comparing the measured temperature and doping dependence of the supercurrent and the proximity induced sub-gap features (multiple Andreev reflections) to theoretical predictions we find that, contrary to expectations, the ballistic transport model fails to describe the SGS junctions. In contrast, the diffusive junction model yields close quantitative agreement with the results. This conclusion is consistent with transport measurements in the normal state, which yield mean free paths in the graphene link that are much shorter than the junction length. We show that all devices fabricated on SiO 2 substrates so far (our own as well as those reported by other groups) fall in the diffusive junction category.The discovery of methods to extract single atomic layers from graphite 1, 2 (graphene) has triggered a torrential effort to explore the new physical properties emerging from their relativistic (Dirac) quasiparticle spectrum 2-4 . A particularly interesting set of questions and expectations has arisen with the recent fabrication of graphene-superconductor (GS) hybrid structures 5, 6 , which has made it feasible to study the interplay between superconductivity and relativistic quantum dynamics. Because of the chemical inertness of graphene, achieving transparent interfaces is relatively easy and reproducible compared to other gate controllable junctions where the weak link is a semiconductor or a 2D electron gas 7, 8 . With almost ideal interfaces, and the ability to carry bipolar supercurrents that are gate tunable from electron to the hole branch 5, 9 , the SGS junctions are promising candidates for nano-electronics applications as well as for studying the physics and "phase diagram" of Josephson junctions 10 . It is therefore important to understand the basic properties of experimentally realizable SGS junctions. These properties are expected to be controlled by the transport of relativistic electrons across the GS interface which is qualitatively different from the transport of normal electrons. Whereas a normal electron impinging on a GS interface is "retro-reflected" as a hole (Andreev reflection) retracing the same trajectory 11-13 , the process is specular for relativistic electrons 14 (if the Fermi energy is within the superconducting gap). These "specular Andreev reflections" (SAR) are expected to leave clearly manifest marks in ballistic SGS junctions, where the electron mean free path exceeds the junction length, detectable through a strong and unusual gate dependence of the Multiple Andreev Reflections (MAR) [11][12][13]15 . Furthermore, in ballistic SGS junctions the Josephson critical current, I c , and the product I c R n (R n is the normal state resistance) are expected to exhibit a characteristic gate dependence, which is qualitatively different from that of conventional SNS...

We report the observation of an isolated charged impurity in graphene and present direct evidence of the close connection between the screening properties of a 2D electron system and the influence of the impurity on its electronic environment. Using scanning tunneling microscopy and Landau level spectroscopy, we demonstrate that in the presence of a magnetic field the strength of the impurity can be tuned by controlling the occupation of Landau-level states with a gate voltage. At low occupation the impurity is screened, becoming essentially invisible. Screening diminishes as states are filled until, for fully occupied Landau levels, the unscreened impurity significantly perturbs the spectrum in its vicinity. In this regime we report the first observation of Landau-level splitting into discrete states due to lifting the orbital degeneracy.

Recently, fractional quantization of two-terminal conductance was reported in suspended graphene. The quantization, which was clearly visible in fields as low as 2 T and persistent up to 20 K in 12 T, was attributed to the formation of an incompressible fractional quantum Hall state. Here, we argue that the failure of earlier experiments to detect the integer and fractional quantum Hall effect with a Hall-bar lead geometry is a consequence of the invasive character of voltage probes in mesoscopic samples, which are easily shorted out owing to the formation of hot spots near the edges of the sample. This conclusion is supported by a detailed comparison with a solvable transport model. We also consider, and rule out, an alternative interpretation of the quantization in terms of the formation of a p-n-p junction, which could result from contact doping or density inhomogeneity. Finally, we discuss the estimate of the quasi-particle gap of the quantum Hall state. The gap value, obtained from the transport data using a conformal mapping technique, is considerably larger than in GaAs-based two-dimensional electron systems, reflecting the stronger Coulomb interactions in graphene.

Strongly correlated electron liquids which occur in quantizing magnetic fields reveal a cornucopia of fascinating quantum phenomena such as fractionally charged quasiparticles, anyonic statistics, topological order, and many others. Probing these effects in GaAs-based systems, where electron interactions are relatively weak, requires subkelvin temperatures and record-high electron mobilities, rendering some of the most interesting states too fragile and difficult to access. This prompted a quest for new highmobility systems with stronger electron interactions. Recently, fractional-quantized Hall effect was observed in suspended graphene (SG), a free-standing monolayer of carbon, where it was found to persist up to T = 10 K. The best results in those experiments were obtained on micron-size flakes, on which only two-terminal transport measurements could be performed. Here we pose and solve the problem of extracting transport coefficients of a fractional quantum Hall state from the two-terminal conductance. We develop a method, based on the conformal invariance of two-dimensional magnetotransport, and illustrate its use by analyzing the measurements on SG. From the temperature dependence of longitudinal conductivity, extracted from the measured two-terminal conductance, we estimate the energy gap of quasiparticle excitations in the fractional-quantized ν = 1/3 state. The gap is found to be significantly larger than in GaAs-based structures, signaling much stronger electron interactions in suspended graphene. Our approach provides a new tool for the studies of quantum transport in suspended graphene and other nanoscale systems.

Graphene is a fascinating material for exploring fundamental science questions as well as a potential building block for novel electronic applications. In order to realize the full potential of this material the fabrication techniques of graphene devices, still in their infancy, need to be refined to better isolate the graphene layer from the environment. We present results from a study on the influence of extrinsic factors on the quality of graphene devices including material defects, lithography, doping by metallic leads and the substrate. The main finding is that trapped Coulomb scatterers associated with the substrate are the primary factor reducing the quality of graphene devices. A fabrication scheme is proposed to produce high quality graphene devices dependably and reproducibly. In these devices, the transport properties approach theoretical predictions of ballistic transport.

Graphene is a fascinating material for exploring fundamental science questions as well as a potential building block for novel electronic applications. In order to realize the full potential of this material the fabrication techniques of graphene devices, still in their infancy, need to be refined to better isolate the graphene layer from the environment. We present results from a study on the influence of extrinsic factors on the quality of graphene devices including material defects, lithography, doping by metallic leads and the substrate. The main finding is that trapped Coulomb scatterers associated with the substrate are the primary factor reducing the quality of graphene devices. A fabrication scheme is proposed to produce high quality graphene devices dependably and reproducibly. In these devices, the transport properties approach theoretical predictions of ballistic transport.