Tuning the Fermi Level of SiO2-Supported Single-Layer Graphene by Thermal Annealing

The effects of thermal annealing in inert Ar gas atmosphere of SiO2-supported, exfoliated single-layer graphene are investigated in this work. A systematic, reproducible change in the electronic properties of graphene is observed after annealing. The most prominent Raman features in graphene, the G and 2D peaks, change in accord to what is expected in the case of hole doping. The results of electrical characterization performed on annealed, back-gated field-effect graphene devices show that the neutrality point voltage V-NP increases monotonically with the annealing temperature, confirming the occurrence of excess hole accumulation. No degradation of the structural properties of graphene is observed after annealing at temperatures as high as 400 degrees C. Thermal annealing of single-layer graphene in controlled Ar atmosphere can therefore be considered a technique to reproducibly modify the electronic structure of graphene by tuning its Fermi level.