Low-Frequency Noise in Top-Gate Graphene Transistors

Electronic and sensor applications of graphene require low levels of the low-frequency noise. The unavoidable noise up-conversion results in serious limitations for practical use. Here we report results of our experimental investigation of flicker noise in the top-gate graphene field-effect transistors. We prepared graphene flakes by mechanical exfoliation and verified their quality with Raman spectroscopy. The hafnium-oxide top-gate dielectric was grown by the atomic layer deposition. The measurements revealed a low level of the noise with the spectrum close to 1/f [1-2]. The analysis of its gate dependence allowed us to identify the noise sources. The work at UCR was supported by DARPA -- SRC FENA and IFC. \\[4pt] [1] Q. Shao, G. Liu, et al., Electron Dev. Lett., 30, 288 (2009). \\[0pt] [2] G. Liu, et al., Appl. Phys. Lett., 95, 033103 (2009).