The two-dimensional phase of carbon known as graphene is actively being pursued as a primary material in future electronic devices. The goals of this thesis are to investigate the growth and electronic properties of epitaxial graphene on SiC, with a particular focus on nanostructured graphene. The first part of this thesis examines the kinetics of graphene growth on SiC(0001) and SiC(0001 ̅) by high-temperature sublimation of the substrate using a custom-built, ultra-high vacuum induction furnace. A first-principles kinetic theory of silicon sublimation and mass-transfer is developed to describe the functional dependence of the graphene growth rate on the furnace temperature and pressure. This theory can be used to calibrate other graphene growth furnaces which employ confinement controlled sublimation. The final chapter in this thesis involves a careful study of self-organized epitaxial graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) on SiC(0001). Scanning tunneling microscopy of the sidewall GNRs confirms that these self-organized nanostructures are susceptible to overgrowth onto nearby SiC terraces. Atomic-scale imaging of the overgrown sidewall GNRs detected local strained regions in the nanoribbon crystal lattice, with strain coefficients as high as 15%. Scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS) of these strained regions demonstrate that the graphene electronic local density of states is strongly affected by distortions in the crystal lattice. Room temperature STS in regions with a large strain gradient found local energy gaps as high as 400 meV. Controllable, strain-induced quantum states in epitaxial graphene on SiC could be utilized in new electronic devices. / Per request of the author and the advisor, and with the approval of the graduate office, the Acknowledgements page was replaced with an errata.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:GATECH/oai:smartech.gatech.edu:1853/50205 |
| Date | 13 January 2014 |
| Creators | Torrance, David Britt |
| Contributors | First, Phillip N. |
| Publisher | Georgia Institute of Technology |
| Source Sets | Georgia Tech Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Archive |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
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