Accurate Graphene-Metal Junction Characterization

Abstract

A reliable method is proposed for measuring specific contact resistivity (pC) for graphenemetal contacts, which is based on a contact end resistance measurement. We investigate the proposed method with simulations and confirm that the sheet resistance under the metal contact (RSK) plays an important role, as it influences the potential barrier at the graphene-metal junction. Two different complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor-compatible aluminum-based contacts are investigated to demonstrate the importance of the sheet resistance under the metal contact: the difference in RSK arises from the formation of insulating aluminum oxide (Al2O3) and aluminum carbide (Al4C3) interfacial layers, which depends on the graphene pretreatment and process conditions. Auger electron spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy support electrical data. The method allows direct measurements of contact parameters with one contact pair and enables small test structures. It is further more reliable than the conventional transfer length method when the sheet resistance of the material under the contact is large. The proposed method is thus ideal for geometrically small contacts where it minimizes measurement errors and it can be applied in particular to study emerging devices and materials.

Keywords

• Graphene
• electrical contacts
• TLM