Shot noise suppression in a series graphene tunnel barrier structure

The shot noise properties in a graphene-based multi-quantum well structure are investigated theoretically. It is found that when the number of the potential barriers (quantum wells) is big enough and the width of the barriers and the wells is shorter than the mean free path, another Dirac-like point at which the Fermi energy equals half of the barrier height appears. The transport is almost forbidden at this new Dirac-like point, the conductivity gets the minimum, and the Fano factor approaches 1/3. With the random potential barrier being taken into consideration, the conductance enhances clearly, meanwhile the Fano factor is suppressed much more. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.