Epitaxial graphene top-gate FETs on silicon substrates

This paper reports preparation of top-gate epitaxial graphene FETs (EGFETs) on silicon substrates. Epitaxial graphene is obtained from a thermal decomposition at the surface of a 3C–SiC layer grown on Si substrates. We provide the first demonstration and comparison of the EGFETs fabricated on Si(1 1 0) and Si(1 1 1) substrates. For all EGFETs, an n-type transistor operation is observed by the gate voltage modulation. We find that the Si(1 1 1) substrates give better flatness at the surface of the 3C–SiC layer. As a result, the EGFETs fabricated on Si(1 1 1) substrates exhibit higher channel currents than those on Si(1 1 0) substrates.