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Jonathan Eroms

Publications and source records attributed to Jonathan Eroms.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Tuning proximity-induced spin-orbit coupling in graphene/WSe$_{2}$ heterostructures

Recently, proximity-induced spin-orbit coupling (SOC) has been observed in heterostructures consisting of monolayer graphene (ML-G) and transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) such as WSe$_{2}$. Successful tuning of SOC in graphene/WSe$_{2}$ heterostructures by applying mechanical pressure and electric fields was also demonstrated in previous studies. In addition, theoretical calculations predicted a strong dependence of the proximity-induced SOC on the twist angle between graphene and TMDC. Here, we put these predictions to experimental test in ML-G/ML-WSe$_{2}$/hBN-heterostructures, where the twist angle is determined by aligning fractured edges, and by crystallographic etching of graphene. By performing weak anti-localization measurements, we determine the strength of the Rasbha-type SOC ($\lambda_\mathrm{R}$) and the valley-Zeeman-type SOC ($\lambda_\mathrm{VZ}$). Our experiments confirm a strong twist angle dependence of the proximity-induced SOC in agreement with theoretical predictions. Finally, we demonstrate the tunability of the SOC strength via mechanical pressure, which is in agreement with earlier findings.

cond-mat.mes-hall

The impact of electrical contacts on the optical properties of a MoS$_{2}$ monolayer

Achieving high performance in transition-metal-dichalcogenide-based optoelectronic devices is challenging -- the realization of an efficient electrical contacting scheme should not be obtained at the expense of their optical quality. Here we present the optical properties of MoS$_{2}$ monolayers which have been electrically contacted with bismuth and gold. The photoluminescence (PL) spectrum of the samples contacted with both materials is significantly broadened. In the case of the bismuth contacted sample we note an additional, low energy band in the PL spectrum, attributed to a defect state formed during the evaporation of Bi. Comparing the intensity of the excitonic peak and of the defect-related peak, we note that there is a correlation between the type of contacts and the optical properties.

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Spin injection and detection in all-van der Waals 2D devices

In this work we report efficient out-of-plane spin injection and detection in an all-van der Waals based heterostructure using only exfoliated 2D materials. We demonstrate spin injection by measuring spin-valve and Hanle signals in non-local transport in a stack of Fe$_3$GeTe$_2$ (FGT), hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) and graphene layers. FGT flakes form the spin aligning electrodes necessary to inject and detect spins in the graphene channel. The hBN tunnel barrier provides a high-quality interface between the ferromagnetic electrodes and graphene, eliminating the conductivity mismatch problem, thus ensuring efficient spin injection and detection with spin injection efficiencies of up to $P=40$\%. Our results demonstrate that FGT/hBN/graphene heterostructures form a promising platform for realizing 2D van der Waals spintronic devices.

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Study of gold and bismuth electrical contacts to a MoS$_{2}$ monolayer

Semiconducting transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) present new possibilities for designing novel electronic devices. An efficient contacting scheme is required to take advantage of exceptional opto-electronic properties of TMDCs in future electronic devices. This is however challenging for TMDCs, mostly due to the typically high Schottky barrier formed between a metal and a semiconductor. Here we investigate different approaches for contacting MoS$_{2}$, utilizing both metallic gold and semimetallic bismuth as contact materials. The collected I-V characteristics of Bi-contacted devices are compared with the performance of traditional gold contacts. The method of AFM ironing, which we used to enhance the parameters of gold contacts, is also described. Additionally, we show preliminary results regarding an optical response for both types of samples.

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Terahertz and gigahertz magneto-ratchets in graphene-based 2D metamaterials

We report on the observation and study of the magneto-ratchet effect in a graphene-based two-dimensional metamaterial formed by a graphite gate that is placed below a graphene monolayer and patterned with an array of triangular antidots. We demonstrate that terahertz/gigahertz excitation of the metamaterial leads to sign-alternating magneto-oscillations with an amplitude that exceeds the ratchet current at zero magnetic field by orders of magnitude. The oscillations are shown to be related to the Shubnikov-de Haas effect. In addition to the giant ratchet current oscillations we detect resonant ratchet currents caused by the cyclotron and electron spin resonances. The results are well described by the developed theory considering the magneto-ratchet effect caused by the interplay of the near-field radiation and the nonuniform periodic electrostatic potential of the metamaterial controlled by the gate voltages.

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Nonlinear intensity dependence of ratchet currents induced by terahertz laser radiation in bilayer graphene with asymmetric periodic grating gates

We report on the observation of a nonlinear intensity dependence of the terahertz radiation induced ratchet effects in bilayer graphene with asymmetric dual grating gate lateral lattices. These nonlinear ratchet currents are studied in structures of two designs with dual grating gate fabricated on top of encapsulated bilayer graphene and beneath it. The strength and sign of the photocurrent can be controllably varied by changing the bias voltages applied to individual dual grating subgates and the back gate. The current consists of contributions insensitive to the radiation's polarization state, defined by the orientation of the radiation electric field vector with respect to the dual grating gate metal stripes, and the circular ratchet sensitive to the radiation helicity. We show that intense terahertz radiation results in a nonlinear intensity dependence caused by electron gas heating. At room temperature the ratchet current saturates at high intensities of the order of hundreds to several hundreds of kWcm$^{-2}$. At $T = 4 {\rm K}$, the nonlinearity manifests itself at intensities that are one or two orders of magnitude lower, moreover, the photoresponse exhibits a complex dependence on the intensity, including a saturation and even a change of sign with increasing intensity. This complexity is attributed to the interplay of the Seebeck ratchet and the dynamic carrier density redistribution, which feature different intensity dependencies and a nonlinear behavior of the sample's conductivity induced by electron gas heating. Our study demonstrates that graphene-based asymmetric dual grating gate devices can be used as terahertz detectors at room temperature over a wide dynamic range, spanning many orders of magnitude of terahertz radiation power. Therefore, their integration together with current-driven read-out electronics is attractive for the operation with high-power pulsed sources.

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Cyclotron- and magnetoplasmon resonances in bilayer graphene ratchets

We report on a tunable - by magnetic field and gate voltage - conversion of terahertz radiation into a dc current in spatially modulated bilayer graphene. We experimentally demonstrate that the underlying physics is related to the so-called ratchet effect. Our key findings are the direct observation of a sharp cyclotron resonance in the photocurrent and the demonstration of two effects caused by electron-electron interaction: the plasmonic splitting of the resonance due to long-range Coulomb coupling and the partial suppression of its second harmonic due to fast interparticle collisions. We develop a theory which perfectly fits our data. We argue that the ratchet current is generated in the hydrodynamic regime of non-ideal electron liquid.

cond-mat.mes-hall

Circular polarization immunity of the cyclotron resonance photoconductivity in two-dimensional electron systems

Studying the cyclotron resonance (CR)-induced photoconductivity in GaAs and HgTe two-dimensional electron structures, we observed an anomalous photoresponse for the CR-inactive geometry being of almost the same magnitude as the CR-active one. This observation conflicts with simultaneous transmission measurements and contradicts the conventional theory of CR which predicts no resonant response for the CR-inactive geometry. We provide a possible route to explain this fundamental failure of the conventional description of light-matter interaction and discuss a modified electron dynamics near strong impurities that may provide a local near-field coupling of the two helicity modes of the terahertz field at low temperatures. This should result in a CR-enhanced local absorption and, thus, CR photoconductivity for both magnetic field polarities.

cond-mat.mes-hall

Ratchet effect in spatially modulated bilayer graphene: Signature of hydrodynamic transport

We report on the observation of the ratchet effect -- generation of direct electric current in response to external terahertz (THz) radiation -- in bilayer graphene, where inversion symmetry is broken by an asymmetric dual-grating gate potential. As a central result, we demonstrate that at high temperature, $T = 150~\textrm{K}$, the ratchet current decreases at high frequencies as $ \propto 1/\omega^2$, while at low temperature, $T = 4.2~\textrm{K}$, the frequency dependence becomes much stronger $\propto 1/\omega^6$. The developed theory shows that the frequency dependence of the ratchet current is very sensitive to the ratio of the electron-impurity and electron-electron scattering rates. The theory predicts that the dependence $1/\omega^6$ is realized in the hydrodynamic regime, when electron-electron scattering dominates, while $1/\omega^2$ is specific for the drift-diffusion approximation. Therefore, our experimental observation of a very strong frequency dependence reveals the emergence of the hydrodynamic regime.

cond-mat.mes-hall

Brown-Zak and Weiss oscillations in a gate-tunable graphene superlattice: A unified picture of miniband conductivity

Electrons exposed to a two-dimensional (2D) periodic potential and a uniform, perpendicular magnetic field exhibit a fractal, self-similiar energy spectrum known as the Hofstadter butterfly. Recently, related high-temperature quantum oscillations (Brown-Zak oscillations) were discovered in graphene moir\'{e} systems, whose origin lie in the repetitive occurrence of extended minibands/magnetic Bloch states at rational fractions of magnetic flux per unit cell giving rise to an increase in band conductivity. In this work, we report on the experimental observation of band conductivity oscillations in an electrostatically defined and gate-tunable graphene superlattice, which are governed both by the internal structure of the Hofstadter butterfly (Brown-Zak oscillations) and by a commensurability relation between the cyclotron radius of electrons and the superlattice period (Weiss oscillations). We obtain a complete, unified description of band conductivity oscillations in two-dimensional superlattices, yielding a detailed match between theory and experiment.

cond-mat.mes-hall

Current-induced one-dimensional diffusion of Co ad-atoms on graphene nanoribbons

One-dimensional diffusion of Co ad-atoms on graphene nanoribbons has been induced and investigated by means of scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM). To this end, the nanoribbons and the Co ad-atoms have been imaged before and after injecting current pulses into the nanoribbons, with the STM tip in direct contact with the ribbon. We observe current-induced motion of the Co atoms along the nanoribbons, which is approximately described by a distribution expected for a thermally activated one-dimensional random walk. This indicates that the nanoribbons reach temperatures far beyond 100 K, which is well above the temperature of the underlying Au substrate. This model system can be developed further for the study of electromigration at the single-atom level.

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Counterintuitive gate dependence of weak antilocalization in bilayer graphene/WSe$_2$ heterostructures

Strong gate control of proximity-induced spin-orbit coupling was recently predicted in bilayer graphene/transition metal dichalcogenides (BLG/TMDC) heterostructures, as charge carriers can easily be shifted between the two graphene layers, and only one of them is in close contact to the TMDC. The presence of spin-orbit coupling can be probed by weak antilocalization (WAL) in low field magnetotransport measurements. When the spin-orbit splitting in such a heterostructure increases with the out of plane electric displacement field $\bar D$, one intuitively expects a concomitant increase of WAL visibility. Our experiments show that this is not the case. Instead, we observe a maximum of WAL visibility around $\bar D=0$. This counterintuitive behaviour originates in the intricate dependence of WAL in graphene on symmetric and antisymmetric spin lifetimes, caused by the valley-Zeeman and Rashba terms, respectively. Our observations are confirmed by calculating spin precession and spin lifetimes from an $8\times 8$ model Hamiltonian of BLG/TMDC.

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Gate-tunable two-dimensional superlattices in graphene

We report an efficient technique to induce gate-tunable two-dimensional superlattices in graphene by the combined action of a back gate and a few-layer graphene patterned bottom gate complementary to existing methods. The patterned gates in our approach can be easily fabricated and implemented in van der Waals stacking procedures allowing flexible use of superlattices with arbitrary geometry. In transport measurements on a superlattice with lattice constant $a=40$ nm well pronounced satellite Dirac points and signatures of the Hofstadter butterfly including a non-monotonic quantum Hall response are observed. Furthermore, the experimental results are accurately reproduced in transport simulations and show good agreement with features in the calculated band structure. Overall, we present a comprehensive picture of graphene-based superlattices, featuring a broad range of miniband effects, both in experiment and in theoretical modeling. The presented technique is suitable for studying more advanced geometries which are not accessible by other methods.

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Graphene Nanoribbons on Hexagonal Boron Nitride: Deposition and Transport Characterization

Chemically synthesized "cove"-type graphene nanoribbons (cGNRs) of different widths were brought into dispersion and drop-cast onto exfoliated hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) on a Si/SiO2 chip. With AFM we observed that the cGNRs form ordered domains aligned along the crystallographic axes of the hBN. Using electron beam lithography and metallization, we contacted the cGNRs with NiCr/Au, or Pd contacts and measured their I-V-characteristics. The transport through the ribbons was dominated by the Schottky behavior of the contacts between the metal and the ribbon.

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Absence of a giant spin Hall effect in plasma-hydrogenated graphene

The weak spin-orbit interaction in graphene was predicted to be increased, e.g., by hydrogenation. This should result in a sizable spin Hall effect (SHE). We employ two different methods to examine the spin Hall effect in weakly hydrogenated graphene. For hydrogenation we expose graphene to a hydrogen plasma and use Raman spectroscopy to characterize this method. We then investigate the SHE of hydrogenated graphene in the H-bar method and by direct measurements of the inverse SHE. Although a large nonlocal resistance can be observed in the H-bar structure, comparison with the results of the other method indicate that this nonlocal resistance is caused by a non-spin-related origin.

cond-mat.mes-hall

Spin field-effect transistor action via tunable polarization of the spin injection in a Co/MgO/graphene contact

We fabricated a non-local spin valve device with Co-MgO injector/detector tunnel contacts on a graphene spin channel. In this device, the spin polarization of the injector contact can be tuned by both the injector current bias and the gate voltage. The spin polarization can be turned off and even inverted. This behavior enables a spin transistor where the signal is switched off by turning off the spin injection using the field-effect. We propose a model based on a gate-dependent shift of the minimum in the graphene density of states with respect to the tunneling density of states of cobalt, which can explain the observed bias and gate dependence.

cond-mat.mes-hall

Commensurability Oscillations in One-Dimensional Graphene Superlattices

We report the experimental observation of commensurability oscillations (COs) in 1D graphene superlattices. The widely tunable periodic potential modulation in hBN encapsulated graphene is generated via the interplay of nanopatterned few layer graphene acting as a local bottom gate and a global Si back gate. The longitudinal magneto-resistance shows pronounced COs, when the sample is tuned into the unipolar transport regime. We observe up to six CO minima, providing evidence for a long mean free path despite the potential modulation. Comparison to existing theories shows that small angle scattering is dominant in hBN/graphene/hBN heterostructures. We observe robust COs persisting to temperature exceeding $T=150$ K. At high temperatures, we find deviations from the predicted $T$-dependence, which we ascribe to electron-electron scattering.

cond-mat.mes-hall

Measuring anisotropic spin relaxation in graphene

We compare different methods to measure the anisotropy of the spin-lifetime in graphene. In addition to out-of-plane rotation of the ferromagnetic electrodes and oblique spin precession, we present a Hanle experiment where the electron spins precess around either a magnetic field perpendicular to the graphene plane or around an in-plane field. In the latter case, electrons are subject to both in-plane and out-of-plane spin relaxation. To fit the data, we use a numerical simulation that can calculate precession with anisotropies in the spin-lifetimes under magnetic fields in any direction. Our data show a small, but distinct anisotropy that can be explained by the combined action of isotropic mechanisms, such as relaxation by the contacts and resonant scattering by magnetic impurities, and an anisotropic Rashba spin-orbit based mechanism. We also assess potential sources of error in all three types of experiment and conclude that the in-plane/out-of-plane Hanle method is most reliable.

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