Suppressed compressibility of quantum Hall effect edge states in epitaxial graphene on SiC

Abstract

We determine conditions for the formation of compressible stripes near the quantum Hall effect (QHE) edges of top-gated epitaxial graphene on Si-terminated SiC (G/SiC) and compare those to graphene exfoliated onto insulating substrate in the field-effect-transistor (GraFET) geometry. For G/SiC, a large density of localised surface states on SiC just underneath graphene layer and charge transfer between them lead both to doping of graphene and to screening of potential profile near its edge. This suppresses formation of compressible stripes near QHE edges in graphene, making them much narrower than the corresponding compressible stripes in GraFETs.