Tuning the transport gap of functionalized graphene via electron beam irradiation

Abstract

We demonstrate a novel method to tune the energy gap ϵ _1 between the localized states and the mobility edge of the valence band in chemically functionalized graphene by changing the coverage of fluorine adatoms via electron-beam irradiation. From the temperature dependence of the electrical transport properties we show that ϵ _1 in partially fluorinated graphene CF _0.28 decreases upon electron irradiation up to a dose of 0.08 C cm ^−2 . For low irradiation doses (0.2 C cm ^−2 ) the electrical conduction takes place via Mott variable range hopping.