Conduction Tuning of Graphene Based on Defect-Induced Localization

The conduction properties of graphene were tuned by tailoring the lattice by using an accelerated helium ion beam to embed low-density defects in the lattice. The density of the embedded defects was estimated to be 2–3 orders of magnitude lower than that of carbon atoms, and they functionalized a graphene sheet in a more stable manner than chemical surface modifications can do. Current modulation through back gate biasing was demonstrated at room temperature with a current on–off ratio of 2 orders of magnitude, and the activation energy of the thermally activated transport regime was evaluated. The exponential dependence of the current on the length of the functionalized region in graphene suggested that conduction tuning is possible through strong localization of carriers at sites induced by a sparsely distributed random potential modulation.