Probing into the metal-graphene interface by electron transport measurements

Metal-graphene contact recently attracts much attention because of its effects on the performance and the operational speed of graphene field-effect transistor. Simple two-probe graphene devices on mechanically exfoliated graphene flakes are fabricated and the temperature behavior of resistance is measured from room temperature down to liquid helium temperature for the study of electron transport in the interface. Comparing experimental data with several different transport theories, it is confirmed that the model of fluctuation-induced tunneling conduction describes precisely the electron transport and indicates the existence of a thin insulating layer in the metal-graphene interface. Through the interface probing by electron transport measurements, the way to reduce the contact resistance is suggested. (C) 2013 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4789554]