Electronic Properties of Clean Au-Graphene Contacts

The effects of Au grains on graphene conduction and doping are investigated in this report. To obtain a clean Au-graphene contact, Au grains are deposited over graphene at elevated temperature and in high vacuum, before any chemical processing. The bulk and the effective contact resistance versus gate voltage demonstrate that Au grains cause p-doping in graphene. The Fermi level shift is in agreement with first principles calculations, but the equilibrium separation we find between the graphene and the top-most Au layer is larger than predicted. Nonequilibrium electron transport displays giant-phonon thresholds observed in graphene tunnel junctions, demonstrating the tunneling nature of the contact, even though there are no dielectrics involved.