Quasiparticle Transformation during a Metal-Insulator Transition in Graphene

Abstract

Here we show, with simultaneous transport and photoemission measurements, that the graphene-terminated SiC(0001) surface undergoes a metal-insulator transition upon dosing with small amounts of atomic hydrogen. We find the room temperature resistance increases by about 4 orders of magnitude, a transition accompanied by anomalies in the momentum-resolved spectral function including a non-Fermi-liquid behavior and a breakdown of the quasiparticle picture. These effects are discussed in terms of a possible transition to a strongly (Anderson) localized ground state.

Effect of Coulomb interactions on the physical observables of graphene

“…Monte Carlo calculations in a lattice gauge theory framework predict the opening of a gap [31,54]. A gap has also been claimed in very recent angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) measurements of epitaxial graphene upon dosing with small amounts of atomic hydrogen [55]. Disorder can give rise to various strong coupling phases [30,56,57] whose physical properties have only been partially explored [58].…”

Cooperative Interplay of van der Waals Forces and Quantum Nuclear Effects on Adsorption: H at Graphene and at Coronene

“…Hydrogen adsorption on carbon based materials such as graphite and graphene is relevant to hydrogen storage, 9 band gap engineering, [10][11][12][13] and potentially as the first step in H 2 formation in the interstellar medium. [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30] Although there is enormous interest in H adsorption on carbonaceous surfaces, with graphene, graphite and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) being the most widely studied model systems, we still don't fully understand the seemingly simple process of how a single H atom adsorbs on the surface.…”

Direct observation of a dispersionless impurity band in hydrogenated graphene

“…Transport experiments have shown that the exposure of graphene to atomic hydrogen turns graphene into an insulator with a temperature dependence of the conductivity that points towards a variable range hopping mechanism 13 . For electron-doped (n-doped) graphene on SiC, small H amounts yield a shrinkage of the Fermi surface and a metal to insulator transition (MIT) has been observed with a combined transport and ARPES study 14 . For pristine quasi-freestanding graphene, the opening of a bandgap has been reported upon hydrogenation 7,15 .…”