Property transformation of graphene with Al2O3 films deposited directly by atomic layer deposition

Al2O3 films are deposited directly onto graphene by H2O-based atomic layer deposition (ALD), and the films are pinhole-free and continuously cover the graphene surface. The growth process of Al2O3 films does not introduce any detective defects in graphene, suppresses the hysteresis effect and tunes the graphene doping to n-type. The self-cleaning of ALD growth process, together with the physically absorbed H2O and oxygen-deficient ALD environment consumes OH− bonds, suppresses the p-doping of graphene, shifts Dirac point to negative gate bias and enhances the electron mobility