Ferrotronics for the creation of band gaps in Graphene

Abstract

We experimentally demonstrate a simple graphene/ ferrolectric device, termed Ferrotronic (electronic effect from ferroelectric) device in which the band-structure of single-layer graphene is modified. The device architecture consists of graphene deposited on a ferroelectric substrate which encodes a periodic surface potential achieved through domain engineering. This structure takes advantage of the nature of conduction through graphene to modulate the Fermi velocity of the charge carriers by the variations in surface potential, leading to the emergence of energy mini-bands and a band gap at the superlattice Brillouin zone boundary. Our work represents a simple route to building circuits whose functionality is controlled by the underlying substrate.