Photocurrent imaging and efficient photon detection in a graphene transistor

We measure the channel potential of a graphene transistor using a scanning photocurrent imaging technique. We show that at a certain gate bias, the impact of the metal on the channel potential profile extends into the channel for more than one-third of the total channel length from both source and drain sides; hence, most of the channel is affected by the metal. The potential barrier between the metal-controlled graphene and bulk graphene channel is also measured at various gate biases. As the gate bias exceeds the Dirac point voltage, V Dirac, the original p-type graphene channel turns into a p-n-p channel. When light is focused on the p-n junctions, an impressive external responsivity of 0.001 A/W is achieved, given that only a single layer of atoms are involved in photon detection. © 2009 American Chemical Society.