We investigate electron-phonon couplings, scattering rates, and mean free paths in zigzag-edge graphene strips with widths of the order of 10 nm. Our calculations for these graphene nanostrips show both the expected similarity with single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) and the suppression of the electron-phonon scattering due to a Dirichlet boundary condition that prohibits one major backscattering channel present in SWNTs. Low-energy acoustic phonon scattering is exponentially small at room temperature due to the large phonon wave vector required for backscattering. We find within our model that the electron-phonon mean free path is proportional to the width of the nanostrip and is approximately 70 μm for an 11-nm-wide nanostrip.
@article{arxiv.cond-mat/0606693,
title = {Room-temperature ballistic transport in narrow graphene strips},
author = {D. Gunlycke and H. M. Lawler and C. T. White},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:cond-mat/0606693},
year = {2007}
}