We investigate the conductivity of doped single-layer graphene in the semiclassical Boltzmann limit, as well as the conductivity minimum in neutral graphene within the self-consistent transport theory, pointing up the effects due to both the structure of charged impurities near graphene and the structure of the surrounding dielectrics. Using the hard-disk model for a two-dimensional (2D) distribution of impurities allows us to investigate structures with large packing fractions, which are shown to give rise to both strong increase in the slope of conductivity at low charge carrier densities in graphene and a strongly sub-linear behavior of the conductivity at high charge carrier densities when the correlation distance between the impurities is large. On the other hand, we find that a super-linear dependence of the conductivity on charge carrier density in heavily doped graphene may arise from increasing the distance of impurities from graphene or allowing their clustering into disk-like islands, whereas the existence of an electric dipole polarizability of impurities may give rise to an electron-hole asymmetry in the conductivity. Using the electrostatic Green's function for a three-layer structure of dielectrics, we show that finite thickness of a dielectric layer in the top gating configuration, as well as the existence of non-zero air gap(s) between graphene and the nearby dielectric(s) exert strong influences on the conductivity and its minimum. While a decrease in the dielectric thickness is shown to increase the conductivity in doped graphene and even gives rise to finite conductivity in neutral graphene for a 2D distribution of impurities, we find that an increase in the dielectric thickness gives rise to a super-linear behavior of the conductivity when impurities are homogeneously distributed throughout the dielectric. Moreover, the dependence of graphene's mobility on its charge carrier density is surprisingly strongly affected, quantitatively and qualitatively, by the graphene-dielectric gap(s) when combined with the precise position of a 2D distribution of charged impurities. Finally, we show that the conductivity minimum in neutral graphene is increased by increasing the correlation distance between the impurities, reduced by increasing the graphene-dielectric gap, and increased by decreasing the dielectric thickness in a top-gated configuration, even though the corresponding residual charge carrier density is reduced by decreasing the dielectric thickness.
We evaluate the autocorrelation function of the electrostatic potential in doped graphene due to nearby charged impurities. The screening of those impurities is described by a combination of the polarization function for graphene in random phase approximation with the electrostatic Green's function of the surrounding dielectrics. Using the hard-disk model for a two-dimensional distribution of impurities, we show that large correlation lengths between impurities can give rise to anti-correlation in the electrostatic potential, in agreement with recent experiments.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.