Surface resistivity of hydrogenated amorphous carbon films: Existence of intrinsic graphene on its surface

Abstract

Surface resistivity of hydrogenated amorphous carbon films was measured as a function of the applied electrical field. The measured dependence shows a sharp ambipolar peak near zero gate voltage. Furthermore, we found that in some samples sheet resistance at the peak is as low as 7.5 k{\Omega}/sq. This value is the same order of magnitude as the sheet resistance of a defect free graphene monolayer. Therefore a conclusion is made that an intrinsic graphene with dimensions of at least millimeters exist on the surface of amorphous carbon films. These results can open new perspectives not only for graphene applications, but also for better understanding of this unique material.